My Light For Your Darkness
by duskslover
Summary: When Sora tries to use the Power Of Waking to save Kairi, Kingdom Hearts decides enough is enough. What punishment will it deem fit for Sora's misuse of its power? Will he make it through the new adventure now before him? Will he come out of it the same? Interactive story, let me know what world you would like to see, any book movie or game. Some OC-ness and a dark Sora. R&R! Xover
1. Where The Light Shines Brightest

Authors Note:

Once and for all, I do not own anything in this story, all properties belong to their respective owners.

So, basically the concept here is to take the price of abusing the Power of Waking and running with it. This will be a crossover fic, but the other worlds won't be the main focus. The final pairing is undecided. Lots of Terra bashing 'cause fuck him. I intend for this to be a wild ride. The first few chapters are slow in my opinion, but set the tone going forward. RxR and few free to ask any questions. Story Starts right after the final battle at the Keyblade Graveyard, and at this time the ReMind DLC hasn't come out and I'm not going to change my story later when it does. Enjoy the Story!

* * *

Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally, after years of conflict and terror at the hands of Xehanort, the battle was won and decided. And all in all, not much was lost that wasn't taken back. Terra Aqua and Ventus were back, so were Roxas and Xion. They didn't have much time to slow down and appreciate this fact in the thick of things, but now that things have been settled they allowed themselves this moment to embrace and catch up with each other. All but Sora. Sora was looking off into the distance, replaying the events of the final battle, and tried to wrap his head around it all. There was no way he could just forgive Xehanort for all he has done. Apparently he was able to sell to the others that he was just a misguided good guy. The thought was ridiculous. Sora knew no one was perfect, but some things are just unambiguously bad. Killing a princess of heart turned guardian of light for example. Sora has had the most terrible pain ever since Xehanort struck Kairi down in cold blood. And as he turned and looked at his friends, he felt that pain grow. He did not fault them for their joy, they deserved it. But Kairi should be here with them.

"Sora…" Riku called out.

Sora looked up to who was calling his name and saw Riku, away from the others and closer to him, locking eyes with him.

"You're crying, Sora." He said.

Sora dabbed his fingers on his cheeks and indeed there were streaks of salty wetness on them. Of course he was crying. Kairi should be here!

"Riku...she should be here. She should be celebrating with us." Sora said, his voice only slightly cracking.

"I know. But...there is no way to get her back. She's...gone, Sora" Riku replied, his voice not quite cracking, but not quite as strong as it usually was.

"No! That's not fair!" Sora shouted.

Sora's outburst caught the attention of the remaining group, and they came closer to see what was being discussed. Lea was the first to speak.

"Sora, what's all the yelling about? Did you stub your toe on some darkness?" Lea joked. Sora simply glared at him, leaving no question as to how he felt about Lea's ham fisted attempt at humor.

"Lea, now's not the time for jokes" Riku tried to warn.

"Well it's hardly the time to be all doom and gloom. We won! Everyone is here" Lea said.

As soon as he finished his sentence Sora's face contorted into an uneven mixture of rage and sorrow.

"Of all people I would have thought you had it memorized! After spending the last month training with her! We aren't all here! SHE isn't here!" Sora yelled.

Donald and Goofy were the first at Sora's side as he fell to his knees and began to wale bitterly. They hugged him and whispered meaningless reassurances to him in vain attempts to console him. During their adventures over the last three years they had talked about many many things, a common topic being Sora's unrealized feelings for Kairi. It was only recently that he finally recognized and came to terms with the fact that she wasn't just a friend to him. He literally loved her more than his own soul. He confided in them that after the battle, he was going to take her out to Scoorges new Bistro for a fancy date and properly ask her to be his woman. They had cheered him on, reassuring him that with everything the two of them had been through together there was no way she would say no. But now she wasn't here, and Lea had to just rub it in. Goofy was mostly concerned for Sora, but Donald and his hot temper got riled up at Lea's insensitivity.

"What's the big idea you used tampon! Kairi was killed and you have the nerve to say everyone is here?! Some of us actually cared about her, and don't need you flaunting your insensitivity all over the place!" Donald hollered.

Xion and Aqua blushed at Donalds crude choice of metaphor, and Terra just chuckled at the verbal jab. Roxas and Ventus looked a bit confused, and King Mickey just sighed in resignation. Riku looked ready to punch Lea ever since his comment, and didn't trust himself to speak. Lea just looked on, embarrassed at the comparison and ashamed at letting his happiness cloud his judgment. He actually forgot in his reunion, that it wasn't just his old friends that mattered but the new ones like Kairi, that meant the world to him as well. He was just beginning to become disgusted with himself when Sora settled down and stood up. Sora's face look set and determined, and Lea would not have faulted him for laying into him like Donald had.

"I can't...I just can't. I can't accept that she is gone. I can't live in a world that doesn't have her in it." Sora mumbled to himself, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. It was Mickey who replied to him.

"Sora, losing someone you love is hard. It's one of the greatest pains one could experience. But we don't have any control over death. Xehanort did what he did, but he never meant to go down that dark path. She is gone. There isn't anything we can do." He said.

"How could any of you buy that crap! Xehanort was evil to the bone! He killed countless, personally sunk thousands of worlds into darkness, manipulated and destroyed people's lives! He was an EVIL PERSON!" Sora spoke, yelling by the end of his tirade.

Everyone looked at Sora and he found they wouldn't hold his gaze. It was if they didn't believe him and honestly thought Xehanort was a hero that just lost his way. It was driving him insane. But then a thought struck him. A memory that seemed to be covered by a thick fog. He tried to reach out and grab it.

"He...He killed us. He killed all of us!" Sora said, pointing at Terra

Terra looked nervously around, wondering why Sora was pointing at him.

"What did I do?" Terra asked.

"When you were possessed by Xehanort, you killed us all. With that shadow tornado as well. It was Kairi, and my own Power Of Waking, that was able to bring us all back." Sora said, as that fog lifted.

Everyone looked at each other wondering how something like that would be possible.

"Sora, that's impossible. The Power Of Waking isn't meant to bring back dead people, only to wake sleeping hearts, like Ventus'." Riku spoke.

"No, see death is an illusion. Right before that endless void, there is a sleeping realm. Much deeper than what Ventus was in, it is the last barrier to true death. We all go there, and that's where we all went at that time. Kairi is a princess of heart, so her light was able to guide me awake enough to piece myself back together and find all of your sleeping hearts" Sora explained.

"Well, even if that is true, you heard what Young Xehanort said, you've been abusing the Power Of Waking using it in a way you're not supposed to. I guess that's what he was referring to. But...oh. No. Sora, you can't, you have no clue what the penalty will be!" Goofy said. Of all the people, he believed Sora the most and knew exactly where Sora was going with this. He always was smarter than he let on.

"If Sora has been abusing it then he should never use it again. There shouldn't really be a reason to now anyway." Mickey said.

Finally, it clicked for Riku. He firmly gripped Sora's shoulders and looked him in the eyes, panic clearly conveyed.

"Sora. Sora please, I'm begging you. I can not lose you. Not you too. Please." Riku begged.

"Riku. I need to save her. Don't you see? We owe everything to her anyway. All this time her and I have been kept apart. She was always just waiting. It was all she could do. She's been alone all this time. Well, not a second more." Sora replied.

Sora gently shook off a now tearing up Riku. He looked at the group. Everyone here he had helped in some way, and cared about to some degree. He knew what he was about to do would work. Even if he didn't make it back himself. He would gladly trade his life for hers, if that's what it took.

"Guys, I'm going to use the Power Of Waking to go get Kairi back" He announced.

The group returned with shocked gasps and mummers of disapproval. All but one.

"Sora. You have saved us all. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be here. I will support any decision you make." Aqua said.

Ventus and Terra looked at Aqua clearly shocked that she, who was the most mature and rationale of the bunch, would agree with this terrible plan.

"No!" cried Mickey. "There is no telling what damage you would do, or if it would even work. The risk is too great! We won Sora, we can move on, we can rebuild."

Lea and Xion looked on with concern, but Roxas knew better.

"Sora, I know there is no talking you out of this. Because if it were Xion, there would be no talking me out of it either" Roxas looked back to a slightly blushing Xion before continuing. "Just make sure you bring her back, whatever it takes."

Roxas was born from both Sora and Ventus, but he was mostly Sora's nobody and knew exactly how he felt. As such Kairi was as important to him and she was to Sora in a way, and he felt the urge to go himself although he knew this wasn't his task to complete.

By now the group had settled down and realized that this was Sora's decision to make, and no one had the right to stop him. Still, the King wouldn't let it go.

"If you do this you may die." Mickey gave a final warning.

"I will get Kairi back." Sora replied. He looked over to Riku, and then to Roxas before nodding his head. "Whatever it takes."

With that Sora summoned his keyblade, his reliable Kingdom Key, and pointed it towards the sky. He pulled at the Power Of Waking, feeling the now familiar deep vastness that came with it. It was as if the World was an infinite space and he was at the very center reaching out. Once thoroughly under his control, he utilized the Power Of Waking and felt for Kairi's heart beat. This is how he found the others before, he let the beating of their hearts guide him. He found her, far, far, far away. It was faint, but he was able to lock onto it.

With one final gaze back towards his friends, who all wore looks of concern, and Riku who was feeling completely helpless, he gave a reassuring smile and made a corridor of light in front of him. With that, he threw them a thumbs up and walked right in, the portal closing off as soon as he was in it.

The wasteland was quiet. No one said a word. They were all just processing it. Finally someone spoke.

"Well, no point in staying here any longer really. Let's regroup at Destiny Island, and go from there." Mickey said.

Everyone nodded their agreement. Terra Aqua and Ventus all used their Keyblade transformations to gear up for space travel.

"It's been a while since we've been there. Can someone show us the way?" Aqua asked.

"Sure, I'll call the Gummy ship and you can follow us." Mickey said.

Riku Donald and Goofy all kept quite, clearly emotional at the thought of most likely losing their mutual best friend.

"We can use corridors of darkness to get to Twilight Town, and from there we can find our way to the Islands. See ya there." Lea said. With that he made a portal and stepped in, with Xion and Roxas following, hands held tightly.

The Gummy ship came and the four hopped on board, making their way with the three following behind them. Everyone wondered what was next, and what would become of their two missing friends.

Sora was falling rapidly through what could only be described as a rainbow in darkness. He felt Kairi's heartbeat growing stronger, and it was starting to call out to him. He had no clue how long it had been, or if time even mattered here. But he didn't care, he would fall for two eternities if it meant she was at the end of his journey.

* * *

Sure enough, after some more time falling, he began to slow down noticeably and the darkness started to give way to a shining floor. It looked like glass. It was Kairi's Dive to Heart! Excited, Sora willed himself upright, flipping so his feet were under him. He finally landed softly on the stained glass. Looking around he saw the physical representation of Kairi's heart.

"It's..beautiful.." Sora said in awe.

It was her. So fully and wholly her. Images of her and him and Riku, images of her and Lea. Images of just her, waiting off the shores of their home island. Images of her and him sharing that yellow star shaped fruit. These were the things she held dear. It warmed his heart a great deal to see himself included in that number.

Earnestly he walked towards the center where a bright light shined on the glass from the limitless black sky. As he got closer he felt Kairi's heart beat faster, and the glass he walked on seemed to lightly hum in response. He reached for the light, and as his fingers were inches away from it he felt himself get violently thrown backwards. Regaining his footing as he landed, he looked up towards the light and noticed a dark mass seeping from it. It spilled onto the floor and took shape, morphing into a shadow version of Kairi. It reminded Sora of the shadow version of himself he fought way back on Captain Hook's ship. The Dark Kairi twiched and shadow hazed around it in a light mist. What shocked Sora more than anything was when it spoke. It's voice was like a screeching siren.

"How could you let me be killed!? I thought you loved me! Did I mean so little to you! You never take anything seriously, not the battle and much less me! That's why you let me die! I was just a burden to you!" The shadow yelled. It's voice cracked and high pitched. It hurt Sora's ears almost as much as it hurt his heart to hear.

"What?! NO! I would never want harm to come to you. When you were struck down I died as well. But I'm back! I came to save you and set you free" He responded. Sora knew the Dive to Heart well, and that within every heart there is darkness. That the closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes. And he knew he would have to deal with the darkness before him before he would be able to free the light. His Kairi.

"Oh I see. I'm just a damsel in distress again am I? Well I have news for you Sora! I may have gotten taken out by the literal strongest keyblade wielder of our time, but you pale in comparison to him. You, I can take down. You, I can hurt." Kairi said.

Her eyes narrowed and she stretched her right arm out to the side, summoning a twisted version of Destiny's Embrace. This one had rotting flowers instead of the usual colorful lively ones, and a black metal instead of the sunset hues. She readied her weapon, and dashed for Sora.

Emotionally Sora was shocked, but after years of life and death battles there was no way his body would just stand still and take a potentially fatal blow. He instantly summoned Kingdom Key and parried Kairi's swing. Or, at least he tried to. The force behind Kairi's blow was so strong that he was locked in the blocking position, unable to turn his wrist as needed to complete the parry. Both combatants strained against each other, unable to get any ground.

Kairi suddenly smirked, focusing on her free left hand and conjuring a blazing dark fira. She then gripped the keyblade with the lit hand and the fire spread along its length, making it blaze alive in dark hellfire. The flames seemed to suck in the light directly around the keyblade she held and she leapt back disengaging Sora. 20 feet away now, she swung Destiny's Embrace in wide arcs through the empty air in front of her, sending waves of black flames at Sora. Sora ducked and dodged around each one, wondering just how adept Kairi was at magic. He had never thought to use a spell directly on his keyblade and use it as a medium like this. He was taken out of his thoughts when Kairi thrust her keyblade in front of her, creating a straight beam of fire. She turned the Keyblade like she would an actual key, and the stream of fire twisted into a vortex in response. It grew as it spiraled toward Sora.

Sora never was the best at traditional magic, and Donald wasn't around to use wisdom form. So he gripped his Keyblade tightly and invoked four watera spells. The sloshing orbs of water were willed around him and they spun slowly around his waist like in a ring of water. He then leapt head first into the now enormous vortex of flames with his keyblade pointed straight ahead. He called the water to the tip of his keyblade and effectively made a water drill to leap through the fire with. For good measure he summoned some light to combat the special dark attribute of the flames.

Kairi was unfazed by it all, and was ready with a swing that was timed to hit Sora when he made it through. Sora burst through the flames and had just enough time to focus the remaining water towards his head to absorb the impact of the surprise attack. It didn't do much, but he figured it was better than nothing. His head was ringing as he was sent to the ground hard, sliding a few feet. Kairi gave no break to him as she jumped up towards him while encasing her left foot in black ice, doing a somersault and bringing it down hard on Sora's chest. Coughing at the blow, Sora hooked his right hand behind Kairi's left knee and pulled down and in hard, making her leg give out and she fell to the floor as a result. Sora hastened to his feet and began casting a cura spell to help fix his no doubt broken ribs and concussed head.

Kairi was not having her hard work undone however and she quickly cast a potent poison spell on Sora. Instantly Sora felt sick to his stomach and even worse than before. It interrupted his concentration and the cura spell failed. He tried to drink a quick Hi-potion but found as soon as he took the first gulp he violently threw up. Confused and worried he turned to Kairi and saw he shadowed face break out in a hard smile.

"Do you like it? That's actually something I picked up from Merlin himself. An extra potent poison spell that makes any further healing impossible for the duration. I figured it would be pretty bad if I was in a hard fight and my enemy managed to heal themselves and catch me off guard. You won't be able to even stomach anything with curative properties." Kairi explained, as she sauntered over to Sora in a slow deliberate manner, raising her keyblade with each step, clearly intending to finish the battle.

Sora could only look on in amazement and wonder. He had no idea Kairi was this strong. What was really giving her the edge was her ability to make decisions on the fly. She did not waste a single moment and every opportunity was capitalized on. It was a type of brutality only darkness could give. Efficient and decisive.

"Kairi, y-you're amazing! I never knew you were so good at fighting! You kicked my ass!" Sora said, chuckling.

"Well, I did promise myself I would never be useless again. I got owned in the final battle, but that doesn't mean I'm useless. Xehanort himself took me head on! There was no way I was ready for him. Maybe Someone like Luxord or even Saix. But I won't play second fiddle to anyone ever again! Including you, Sora." She said. She was upon him now, keyblade raised over his skull.

"Kairi, I'm so sorry I let you die. But I'm here now, we can go back! We can have a life together. I love you-" Sora was interrupted by a forceful kick to the jaw from Kairi.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear it! I Don't BELIEVE YOU! When I was taken, you didn't come for me then. You stayed and helped everyone else. Everyone else was more important than me! If you loved me you would have ended things as fast as you could. You always have to help everyone Sora! That's why I'm always alone!" by the end Kairi was screeching at him and the words were barely recognizable. She suddenly threw her keyblade to the side, which made it dismiss itself, and jumped on Sora straddling him. She began punching him in the face, each strike hard and unforgiving, as she spoke to him between punches.

"You and Riku! Always! Leaving! I was kidnapped! I was alone! That bastard Saix touched me! I was violated! You were supposed to protect me! You were supposed! To! Love me! Then you left again! And again! And AGAIN!"

Sora was long past feeling any pain, at this point all Kairi's punches did was jerk his head around violently. But he was still conscious, and heard every word she said, and each word hit harder than any punch she gave him. He knew this was the darkness in Kairi, her shadow. Darkness is within every heart. The darkness in one's heart reflects those repressed feelings, the ones you have that are actually how you feel, but you shove it deep down because you knew you needed to. This was Kairi's darkness. She was alone, but had to shove it deep because everyone needed her to be strong. He and Riku needed her to be there waiting for them, so they had something to come home to. He never truly appreciated just how hard it must have been. Being told that he cared but never giving a second thought to going off in some adventure.

"Wh-what makes you think, I-I'd ever want to go back to that hell?" Kairi stammered out, beginning to tear up.

"Kairi, I'm so, so sorry. You...you're more than darkness. You are her heart. You are how she really feels. You were so lonely, weren't you?" Sora managed to get out through busted lips.

"Shut up, don't act as if you care! It's too late! I'm dead. I would rather stay dead, then go back to the way things were before." Kairi said, silently weeping.

"You can't mean that! I-I need you! I love you!" Sora pleaded.

"You had every chance to truly convince me of that. Now I'm convinced you just loved the idea of me. The perfect girl who would just nod her head and accept anything you wanted, and would always wait for you without fuss. Well that's not who I am. I have my own wants and desires, my own dreams. I will not go back to that life. I would rather...I would rather die without you, than live with you but never really have you." Kairi's face got a somber look after saying this.

Suddenly, the light that was constantly shining on the middle of the stained glass began to fade. Kairi looked at it and smiled. She looked down at the beaten and bloodied Sora. Slightly proud that she managed to actually beat him, slightly disgusted with herself that she hurt him so badly.

"It's okay now. I can finally rest. All this waiting. All this battle. All this heartache, because you don't love me as much as I love you...It's over. It's my time." Kairi said.

"No!" Sora yelled, tears freely falling down his face, mixing with his blood. "I don't want you to leave! I'll do anything! Please!" Sora had never felt so much alarm and doom in his life.

"You don't love me. I don't want a life where you don't love me". Kairi stated.

Sora wracked his brain for a solution. Of course he loved her! She just wasn't listening. Though she had great points, about how he just leaves her for the smallest cry for help. But that doesn't mean he doesn't love her! As Sora's mind went into overdrive, he noticed the light almost completely faded from the center of the glass. Suddenly, he recalled a conversation he had with Goofy:

"_Hey Goofy, don't you miss your wife? I've met Max, but I don't believe I've ever seen your wife." Sora asked. The group was settling down for the night in a camp they made. Donald was already asleep, snoring loudly, while Sora and Goofy spent some time gazing at the stars. _

"_I do miss her, everyday. I get to see her, when I can get my hands on a video phone if the world we are visiting happens to have that technology, but we always argue." Goofy replied._

"_You? Arguing? I just can't imagine it Goof, you're the calmest person I know. I can only imagine she is pretty nice too." Sora said._

"_Oh, she's sweet as honey. But love creates strong emotions. See, she gets lonely when I'm gone. I do too, but I always have the adventure to keep me occupied, so it's out of mind usually. But she just has her regular job, and Max is in the Royal Knights Academy so her nest is empty as well. When I do get to see her between adventures, we always have a nasty fight." Goofy said._

"_Wow. I guess it puts a strain on things. Do you think she should be giving you such a hard time though? We are out here saving the worlds after all!" Sora scoffed._

"_Heh, she's just lonely Sora. If a woman really loves you, she gets mad at you. I know that sounds weird, but it'll make sense once you get hitched." Goofy said._

_Sora looked at Goofy thoughtful, and Goofy looked at him with a raised brow. _

"_So, what do you do? When she is all pissed? How do you make it better?" Sora asked. He could easily see him being away constantly, and wanted to know how he could help Kairi feel better down the line. _

"_She is only upset 'cause she loves you, but 'cause you're always away she can forget just how much you love her. She knows that I have to go, I'm a knight, I serve a greater purpose. What helps is when I can be with her, I remind her that I love her." Goofy said. _

"_But if shes hollering and yelling how can you get a word in?" Sora asked._

"_Actions speak much louder than words. You walk up to her, hug her around her waist, and lay a deep passionate kiss on her." Goofy replied, a fond smile on his lips. _

"_Is that it?" Sora asked, blushing at the thought of doing that to Kairi. _

"_Well, there is more, but I'll tell ya when you're older haha" Goofy said full of mirth._

"_Hey come on, don't hold out on me!" Sora said, cutely pouting at being denied._

Finishing his memory, Sora decided to do what he did best. Just go for it. Just as the last strands of light began to flicker out of existence, he sat up hugging Kairi firmly, keeping her in place. Kairi thought Sora still wanted to fight, but seeing as she would finally face true death when the light faded, she couldn't bring herself to resist him at all. Her eyes widened generously as she saw Sora's face closing the distance between hers, and felt his lips meet hers. She felt him, and her distorted body began to heat up from the inside. He pressed firmly but softly against her, enjoying her taste as much as he could. He kissed her as if when he let go, she would disappear forever. As far as he was concerned, that was exactly what was going to happen, so he had no intention of ever letting her go. Even if he had to stay here, in this position for the rest of time, if it meant he could be with her, he would. Finally, he let go of her lips, but not of her.

"I said, I love you. And if my actions so far have led you to believe that there is a chance that I didn't love you, I will stop them. I promise, on my Heart, that you will not have to return to the same life as before. Because this life will have me in it, and I will never let you go." Sora said, without a single blush and in all seriousness.

Kairi sat there, blushing madly, but with the most cathartic expression she could form. All of her pain, all of her suffering, laid out in soul wracking sobs against her love. She wanted to believe him, that she could be happy alive and with him. That there would be no more waiting. But she couldn't fully face her fears. There was still doubt.

"I'm still afraid Sora." She said in full honesty.

"Kairi, marry me." Sora stated.

"W-what?" Kairi stuttered. She looked in amazement and nervousness, trying to force herself to believe what she just heard. "Marry you?" The light stopped fading, one single yet strong ray connecting with the floor once again.

"Kairi, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Sora asked, realizing he should have asked first.

Kairi started to change. The black haze that was surrounding her began to peel off in slabs of palpable darkness, revealing the red hair and white skin she once had. She was in the clothes she was killed in, and her blue eyes shone ethereally with hope. The light began to expand, growing wider than before engulfing them and eventually shining on the entire Dive to Heart. The dark background began to fade to white and everything was warmth and light. In the absolute light there was but a single, soft voice filled with happiness that spoke.

"Yes!"


	2. She Who Stands At Creation

I am so Sorry for the way the first chapter uploaded. I'm still not aware of all the restrictions and a lot of my formatting was lost when I uploaded the final product. I'll try to utilize what I can from now on, but here's a second chapter for a double upload. Follow to stay up to date when there is an update, and feel free to talk about things as they happen, lots of stuff going on moving forward!

So Sora saved Kairi. Seems like all is well with the world. What could possibly go wrong…?

It was night at Destiny Islands. Everyone had safely made it as planned and was gathered around the campfire. Terra, Aqua, and Ventus were talking quietly amongst themselves with Ventus laying his head on Aqua's lap. Lea was with Roxas and Xion who were leaning shoulder to shoulder, all talking as well. Riku was near Donald Goofy and the King, all content to just sit in silence. The former two groups of friends were still catching up with each other.

"So the darkness eventually got to you too, huh?" Terra asked Aqua.

"Yeah. It turns out I was there for about ten years, but in there I could not tell how long it had been. I had no concept of time, and I eventually lost my concept of self. I only lasted so long because I kept the memory of you two alive in me, but eventually, I lost that too." Aqua replied.

"I don't remember anything at all. After my last clash with Vanitas, when I lost my heart, everything just goes black. If Sora hadn't let me rent out his place, I don't know what would have happened to my heart." Ventus said.

"Well I remember. I remember everything that Xehanort did with my body. I even have the memories from his Nobody and Heartless. Or, I guess they were really my Nobody and Heartless. I did...such horrible things. I wish I could just forget." Terra said.

"Yeah, you must have really done terrible things. Didn't you have any control at all?" Aqua asked.

"No, I was possessed. There is no way I would have done any of that stuff on my own accord." Terra said.

"Well, you say that, but you sure weren't holding back when you stole Aurora's heart. Or with any other bad thing you did before Xehanort took over your body." Aqua said, a slight tone of disgust in her voice.

"Oh don't act all high and mighty, you gave into the darkness too in the end." Terra defended.

"How dare you! I may have given in to the darkness, but that was after years in a Realm full of nothing but it. I didn't side with the bad guy literally every chance I got! You're gullible but I can only credit so much to your stupidity before I'm forced to realize that sometimes you are not a good guy." Aqua responded, very upset. "I sacrificed everything for you and Ven, heart, mind and soul. What did you do?" Aqua accused.

"What did I do? How could I do anything with you and the Master hounding my every move. He even sent you to spy on me! How did you think I would feel?" Terra threw back.

"With good reason, apparently. It pained the Master to have you under surveillance. Almost as much as I'm sure it hurt him to be struck down by his best friend after being weakened by you, his favorite student. " Aqua snided, her rage at what had happened boiling just under the surface, but not quite spilling over yet.

"Aqua…" Ven started, but was interrupted by Terra.

"Fuck you! Eraqus was going to kill Ven from some misguided obsession of the light. He was too weak to beat Xehanort and too afraid to try and find another way. He was a coward!" Terra roared, getting up to his feet.

The smack that rung out was heard by all surrounding the campfire. Aqua stood, holding her red hand, but not because of the pain that stung it.

"You bastard." she snarled. "You caused all of this. You are the one who couldn't keep the darkness in check. You are the one that left, because you couldn't handle being second best. And you were the one, who would rather take the easy route, the short cut, than work harder for what you want. I will always blame you for everything that happened with Xehanort, because while he was the one who did it, he could not have done it without you. You are a true monster. Murderer. Destroyer. Darkness." Aqua said, tears falling from her furious pained eyes.

Ventus was horrified at what he saw and heard between his two best friends. Terra stood there, tears threatening to fall, the right side of his face an angry red against his light tan complexion. Terra stomped away without a further word. Aqua looked at Ventus and noticed that she had thrown him off her lap roughly when she stood up to meet Terra's face with her hand.

"I'm sorry Ven, I didn't mean to knock you off like that." Aqua said, sitting back down and patting her lap as an invitation to once more lay his head on it. "You probably think I'm a terrible friend, saying what I did to him…" Aqua said, eyes downcast.

Ventus took a moment to form a response. While his first reaction was to verbally reprimand Aqua, and chase after Terra, he remembered how that went last time. He wasn't stupid, he saw and knew of the downright evil things Terra did in each world he visited. At first Ventus had tried to convince himself Terra was just hurt and confused, that he just needed a friend to set him straight. But he couldn't keep lying to himself. Terra let Xehanort sweet talk him because it was the path of least resistance. Terra basically killed the Master. Even if it was to protect him, Ventus would never have left if Terra wasn't such a broody bastard! But Ventus still loved Terra, despite all of his flaws. Although maybe it was time to stop sugar coating things. Terra was a bad guy.

"Aqua…" Ventus started. "I understand how you feel. I saw a lot of the same things you did. I can't keep pretending like Terra is a good guy, at least back then. And I know he has a lot to make up for. I do still love him, he will always be my brother. But maybe I should love him from afar. I don't...I don't trust him. Not yet at least…"

"Oh Ven." Aqua said. She hated that she had to play the self righteous one in the past, but her mission was her mission. It hurt when Ven would yell at her, he didn't understand she was doing what needed to be done. But now he got it, and she didn't have to worry about losing another friend. "Thank you so much." Aqua said as she hunched down and hugged Ventus' head in happiness. Ventus was also happy, but for a much more embarrassing reason.

"I think he can't breathe, Aqua!" Roxas called from across the campfire, chuckling.

Aqua realized her breasts where smothering Ventus' face due to their positions, and sat up quickly with a blush, though Ventus was much redder. Lea chuckled right along with Roxas and Xion punched Roxas in the arm for his crude remark. Riku Donald Goofy and Mickey just sat passively, taking in the scene but not reacting to it.

"Don't be so dirty Roxas!" Xion chided him.

"Hey, he just saved the poor kid's life, cut him some slack." Lea defended. 'Though, that's a hell of a way to go' Lea thought to himself as he eyed Aqua in appreciation.

"Okay, okay, sorry sorry" Roxas conceded. "So Axel, you were saying about kidnapping Kairi?"

"Oh yeah." Lea said, continuing his story. "I was ordered to kidnap Kairi in order to use her as leverage to make Sora listen to us. It wasn't that hard, all I had to say was that I could take her to Sora. She hopped right in the portal, her and the King's dog. Still don't know why the dog was there though. But Sora was a mess after that. Xemnes let Saix be in charge of harassing Sora and boy did it work. I was sure it worked too well, because at some point he just stopped fighting. He even got Sora to get on his knees and beg! Long story short though, Kairi is an independent woman that don't need no man and no one but herself, figuratively, or literally, I don't know. I ended up turn coating for the millionth time, because I felt Roxas in Sora, so I helped him out. After that it all kind of went black and I woke up in Yen Sid's tower. Though I must say, Saix was kind of a creep to Kairi. After a few days she went from open defiance to down right terror when he was around. I wonder if he hurt her in some way…" Lea finished his story.

"Wow. All that happened after I returned to Sora…" Xion said, processing more than Roxas since she was gone longer.

"Yup. But we are all back now! The first thing we should do is get some sea-salt ice cream tomorrow." Roxas said brightly. Xion nodded her head in agreement and leaned closer into roxas, digging her head into his chest as he was pushed down on his back"

"Geez get a room you two!" Lea teased.

"Geez Lea, you're always teasing someone." Xion said, pouting cutely with a blush. Roxas just chuckled at his friends banter. Xion noticed his chuckling and decided to bring up something she was curious about.

"So Roxas, Lea is a Somebody again. Why do you still call him Axel?" She asked.

"Yeah, Axel was my slave name!" Lea joked. He just got deadpanned stares from the two.

"Anyway, Axel is how I met him. Personally I feel like it makes our bound special. Ventus met him when he was Lea. I'm already part Ventus, so I feel like it's something that's mine by calling him Axel instead. Like yeah Ventus met you before, but only I met you when you were Axel. So I prefer it. Axel doesn't mind either." Roxas looked to Lea to confirm.

"Nope." Axel said with a head shake. "Long as I got my best buds that's all I care about." he said while laying on his back and putting his hands behind his head. Xion gave a thoughtful noise and the three fell into a comfortable silence.

The camp quieted down and everyone was simply existing. The campfire was still going strong, and thoughts of their conversations swirled in their heads. At one point or another everyone wondered what would become of Sora and Kairi, if both or any of them would return. All thoughts were interrupted when a thin line of light appeared over the campfire. Everyone was startled at it's sudden appearance and the mini crack of thunder that accompanied it. The line expanded into an oval, and the light within it shone out brightly. Those there covered their eyes, and wondered what was going on. That was when a figure walked out. He had a long bundle in his arms, everything obscured by the radiant light. Aqua was the first to be able to see some of what stood before them and she gasped at what her eyes gave her.

"S-Sora!" she exclaimed.

The portal started to close, the figures now completely stepped out of it. It finally shrunk to nothing and vanished, without so much as a noise. Everyone blinked the remaining light out of their eyes and gasped just as Aqua did, calling out his name. Donald Goofy and Riku were the first on their feet, crowding around but not touching Sora as they could see a bundle of red hair nestled against his chest.

"Kairi!" Riku said. He was so relieved. He didn't know what would become of him without his two anchors there to ground him. He needed Sora and Kairi, just one of them wouldn't do. He was so glad Sora went to save Kairi.

"We're home." Sora said out loud, and at this everyone got on their feet and came closer to him. Save Terra, who had stomped away a while ago after his argument with Aqua.

Everyone had questions and Sora had no problem giving answers, at least enough of an answer to satisfy them for now. He knew the darkness and Kairi was the same in the Dive to Heart, but he explained it to be that the darkness was just darkness and Kairi was waiting somewhere deeper to be saved. He didn't want people to think less of Kairi for giving in to darkness, Kairi has had it really difficult so far. His arms were getting tired and though the light did much to heal the worst of his injuries he still had internal and external bruising and was very much exhausted and sore. Kairi was sound asleep, no doubt completely tuckered out from everything that happened. There was one question that he decided would be the last one he would answer the the night.

"So, how did you convince the darkness to fade?" The question came from Aqua.

She was very curious because with her Sora had to literally beat the darkness out of her. All she remembers was waking to Sora's wonderful light filled smile. It was enough to make her body flush even now. 'That smile…'

"Well, I couldn't do it on my own. She was really kicking my ass. " Sora started, scratching his nose nervously. He had wanted to wait till Kairi was awake to drop the news, but he found no real reason to wait. "I called out to Kairi within the darkness, and asked her to marry me. I poured out my love through those words, and she came to me. She said yes!" Sora finished, with the brightest smile he ever wore.

Everyone erupted into cheers and pats on the back, which made Sora groan in agony each time, were plentiful. Aqua however wore a tight expression, almost downcast. She didn't know why it bothered her so much, but it just did. Was she…?

Sora's voice broke over the cheering. "Alright everyone, we can celebrate later. I'm beat, and Kairi needs a warm bed. You guys don't have to leave but I'm going to the treehouse to sleep. Feel free to join when you turn in, there are plenty of blankets and sleeping mats. We can talk tomorrow. Goodnight!" And with that Sora lumbered off to the treehouse, climbing the ladder with one hand and disappearing within the doorway.

The rest of the group buzzed with talk with Riku Donald and Goofy looking much livelier and mingling as well. Mickey was apprehensive though. He was informed by Master Yen Sid that there is absolutely a penalty for abusing the Power Of Waking during his studies under him.

Many Keyblade Masters have found this power and abused it, only to vanish for good. The few that did make it back were always changed, ranging from being slightly off to being outright deranged and descending into madness and darkness. Mickey could only hope that Sora did not suffer the same fate as those before him.

Eventually the excitement died down, and everyone started trickling into the treehouse to rest for the night. Mickey was the last one up, but not the last one to fall asleep.

Aqua laid in her cot, pondering her hate of Terra. She didn't mean to blow up on him like that, but she couldn't say she lied at all. She knew deep down she hated Terra. He was everything she said. But she also knew hate was a footstool for darkness, which is why she tried to rekindle their friendship. He had meant a lot to her, maybe even in a special way...but now that was gone. She felt nothing but burning resentment for him. Her mind switched gears and thought to Sora. He was truly amazing. She felt it wouldn't be a stretch to liken him to a god. He could do anything, even bring back the dead! He certainly saved her, and she was so very grateful. And that smile...She gazed over to where Sora was sleeping snoring softly, and stared longingly. She wanted to hug him. She wanted to be hugged by him. Sighing, she turned away and settled into her cot.

'He's getting married, I can't...I can't want him…" She thought. She mulled the thought over for a few more minutes until finally falling asleep.

Kairi stirred awake slowly. She felt sunlight hitting her face and turned away from it. She felt the familiar roughness of her old sleeping cot and realized she must be in the tree house in Destiny Island. That was when the events that transpired flooded into her mind. Her death, he Dive to Heart, Sora coming into it to save her. The way she caved in to the darkness, changing her, and fighting Sora tooth and nail. Their talk, his proposal, and the light. She smiled when she remembered saying yes. Kairi was blank after that until now when she woke up. Groggily she pushed her upper body up to see who else was around. She noticed Ventus, Roxas, Lea, Xion, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Aqua, although Aqua was sitting on her cot legs crossed in what appeared to be meditation.

"Good morning Kairi." Aqua suddenly spoke, her voice shocking the undisturbed air.

"Hi Aqua. I guess we made it back huh?" Kairi said.

Aqua smiled warmly, opening her eyes. "I had no doubt in my mind that you were gonna make it. Sora can do incredible things. I imagine he was doubly focused for his fiance." Aqua gave a knowing smirk.

Kairi gasped and blushed. "H-how? Ohmigod did he already tell everyone?" Kairi asked, clearly embarrassed.

"Ha ha, he did he did. As soon as you both got back last night. He came in heroically holding you bridal style. He explained how the darkness inherent to the Deep Sleeping Realm held you hostage and how you responded to his love for you." Aqua recounted.

Kairi thought it was weird that Sora would lie. She remembered clearly the hopelessness and pain she felt. She willingly gave in to the darkness. She had nothing to lose at that time. But she trusted Sora's judgment. She would ask him about it later when they had time.

"So, where is my Fiance?" She asked.

Aqua stomped down the twitch that wanted to come out on her face masterfully. Hearing Kairi call Sora that was much more painful than she thought it would be, especially considering that she had just called Kairi his Fiance. Setting her jaw, she answered. "He left about 20 minutes ago with the King. I woke up to them talking and they seemed pretty serious. When they left Sora looked very annoyed and the King seemed very tense. I wanted to go see what was up but figured it wasn't my place to snoop. And I had to meditate. You should go see what's up though. Sora may need you." She finished.

Kairi nodded in understanding and said her thanks. She stood up and felt...strong. Stronger than ever before. As if her skin was a thin layer just barely containing a universe of power and strength. She felt good. Aqua just nodded once and returned to her meditation as Kairi passed her. Kairi got to the balcony of the tree house and saw Sora and Mickey in what seemed to be an argument. Kairi decided to test her new feeling of power to see if it meant anything. She gathered magical energy within her bones to reinforce them, then to her feet. She took one step before making a mighty leap, before landing 30 feet away on the beach where Sora was. She landed with a quick puff of sand, and Sora and Mickey were interrupted in their spat, startled.

"Kairi!" Sora said, quickly shifting from annoyed to happy. He hugged her and spun her around. He really truly got her back, he was ecstatic.

Kairi only had a chance to pat her skirt down before Sora picked her up and spun her around laughing in glee. She didn't mind. After all, this is what she wanted. To be with him. She hugged him back when he set her down and boldly went for a kiss which he happily greeted. The King gave them their moment, idly wondering if that leap Kairi made was something special or if he was just overthinking. He figured he would address one thing at a time, and thus returned his thoughts to Sora.

"Okay Sora, we still need to finish what we were discussing...are you sure you want other people to hear?" Mickey said, throwing a glance to Kairi who was very confused at the hush hush attitude.

"Your Majesty this is what I've been trying to tell you! I'm not going anywhere, not to help someone and definitely not to Master Yen Sid's place just because you're over thinking things. I feel great, really. And evidently Kairi must too if that leap was anything to go by. That was awesome hun!" Sora finished, tuning back to Kairi.

Kairi couldn't focus on Sora's praise as she was hyper focused on the fact that the King wanted Sora to leave again. Why were people always trying to take him away from her!? But it's okay, he promised it won't be like before. And he just said he wouldn't go so everything was okay. She could trust Sora.

"King Mickey, why do you want Sora to go meet Master Yen Sid? What is happening?" Kairi asked, a little more hostile than she intended to.

Sighing, Mickey explained to her what he was trying to tell Sora, about the Power Of Waking and the history of those that had abused it and their fates.

"So you see, that's why I want Sora to visit Master so we can check to see if there are any issues, and if so to correct them before they snowball." Mickey finished.

Kairi understood Mickey's concern, and decided it most definitely was best if Sora went. She said as much to the both of them.

"But Kairi, I promised I wouldn't leave anymore, that you wouldn't be alone. I won't break my promise to you!" Sora proclaimed.

Kairi smiled at Sora's sincerity and affection. "That makes me so happy. But Sora, it's okay if we go together. I don't mind you going somewhere, just take me with you silly. Besides, this is very important. We need to make sure you are okay and that nothing can threaten our new happiness. You gotta be healthy!" She said, giggling at Sora's one track mind.

"Oh. I guess I could just take you with me huh." Sora said cheesing, rubbing the back of his head at his over thinking.

Mickey just sighed in relief. He didn't want to think he would not have been able to make Sora go, though he wasn't sure he could if it really came down to it. Sora had grown exponentially. He was strong. Stronger even than himself and Riku. Sora just wasn't sharp enough to implement strategy to his fighting style, though he had his moments. Content that Sora would go, he informed them they could leave after breakfast and left off to find some coconuts to eat.

Kairi and Sora stood there, now alone. The tension between them not the kind they were used to. Kairi stood with her hands behind her back and Sora fidgeted with his fingers. Suddenly Kairi spoke up.

"Did you mean it?" she asked.

"Mean what?" Sora questioned.

"When you asked me to marry you..were you serious, or was it just to get me to come back? I know you told people that the darkness had me captive, but we both know I willingly succumbed to it." She said.

"I meant every word of what I said. We aren't children anymore. I know how you feel about me. And know that I love you. I told people that version of what happened because I didn't want people to see you differently, as if you were fallen or something. You've been through so much, I've put you through so much, I didn't want other people to think less of you." Sora said.

"But you know the truth. You know that I am fallen. Sullied, dirty, disgusting. I was weak and I gave in." Kairi said, her voice wavering.

Sora could see she was becoming very emotional and fast. He thought of what he could do to make her feel better.

"_Actions will always speak louder than words" _he remembers.

He walks up to close the short distance between them, holds her close and kisses her, tasting tears on her lips.

"I love you, and I accept you fully. You aren't who you've been, you are who you are. I love you, Kairi." Sora said, placing kisses along her jaw and on her cheeks.

Kairi was overwhelmed. She felt like scum for submitting to the darkness she fought so long against, as a princess of heart and guardian of light no less. But if Sora could love her despite all of that, then she could accept her faults. Besides, ever since returning from her Dive to Heart she hasn't felt the darkness at all. It was as if the darkness just vanished. She thought it was that light she felt when Sora had proposed that cleansed her somehow. But then, where did that light actually come from?

Deep in Kairi's heart, in her Dive to Heart, the stained glass now was completely different. Half of its circumference was Kairi, slightly curled and holding onto a hand. That hand was resting over her heart, and darkness seemed to be seeping into the hand from Kairi. Kairi was wearing her normal outfit in this depiction, but seemed to glow. The hand belonged to Sora, who took up the other half of the stained glass. He was completely dark and his features were shadowed over. One would say he appeared to be absorbing the darkness away from Kairi. Around the circular edge were markings and symbols, all in a language long lost.

A single being winked into existence, hovering over Sora's form. It was a woman. Her skin was an ethereal blue, with sashes made from stars wrapped around her body. She was easily over 7 feet tall, and her hair flowed endlessly in the darkness, littered with eternity. She opened her eyes and the sun shined forth from them. She gently floated down and her toes touched Sora's picture. She did not have a mouth, but her voice seemed to shake the air when she spoke.

"**Another has abused my gifts. I will not abide this transgression anymore. He must pay the price.**"

The being looked at the glass, admiring her handiwork. She saw when Sora went to save Kairi, and followed him discreetly into her Dive to Heart. She watched him battle for his love, and made the ultimate commitment to save her. But this Sora, a child of dust, used her gift to do this. It was only meant to wake Ventus, and save them once should they fail. But he kept pressing and pressing his luck. So when his love accepted his offer, the being decided on a fitting punishment, since he loved his woman so much.

"**Your light, for her darkness.**"


	3. Pavor in Paradise

There we go, the stage is set, time for some drama and seeds of dissent. R&R, enjoy!

* * *

Sora and Kairi decided to gather some stuff so that everyone could eat together once they all woke up. Aqua had made her way down sometime after Mickey left on his own and joined Sora and Kairi with gathering things. Kairi made a list of things they would need in order to make a proper breakfast.

"Okay you lazy bum, make sure you get everything on this list." Kairi says, handing him the list.

Sora chuckles at the reference Kairi makes, smiling in a way only he can. "Just like old times, huh Kai." He says.

"Yeah, just like old times." Kairi replies, giving a smile of her own. She cups his cheek in her hand and lets go, shooing him away. Aqua asks what she should do to help.

"Well, you could come with me and help gather supplies. There are a lot of people, I won't be able to carry it all myself anyway." Sora offers, much to Aqua's delight.

"Sure, I'll join you Sora." Aqua says. Looking to kairi, Aqua asks "What will you be doing while us two are working hard?"

"I'll be finding shells and leaves to make plates and silverware. We aren't animals here after all" Kairi chuckles.

Aqua nods and faces Sora. "Well let's get going. Even Ven won't stay sleeping forever."

She walks by Sora's side and the two walk off. Kairi goes about her task and wonders if Sora was hurt because he saved her. She sincerely hoped he's still just the same old Sora she knows and loves. She wouldn't know what to do if he was changed like the King said he might be.

* * *

Sora and Aqua had already gathered most of the stuff needed on the list. All that was left were a bunch of fish and a few mushrooms. Sora led Aqua to a particular spot on the beach where the water had a lot of fish. Sora then proceeded to remove his heavy clothes.

"W-what are you doing Sora!" Aqua blossomed into a flush.

Sora stopped unbuckling his pants. "I'm just getting my clothes off so I don't get them wet. We are on an Island. No need to be embarrassed." He reassured her as he continued with his disrobement.

"I-I'm not from an Island. In the Land of Departure we all wore our armor and had everything proper." Aqua squeaked out, taking in Sora in nothing but his boxers. They were red with black trimming with a keyhole on the crotch flap. A crotch that was very noticeable due to it's size and she almost passed out right there.

"Hey I'm sorry Aqua. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable by making you do something you aren't used to. You don't have to help with this part I'll catch all the fish.

Aqua looked on at his toned and tight body. With how fast he was she had expected a build more like Ventus', if not a bit taller. What she got was a body with corded muscles rippling with every movement and a strong chest and nice biceps. His abs were insane with an eight pack so defined there was no doubt every muscle was trained to its maximum. She only just caught what he had said as he started heading to the ocean.

"Wait! No I said I'd help and I will, it just took me by surprise is all. I'm technically almost 30 years old do you really think a little skin is gonna bother me" She challenged, despite that his skin was bothering her, alot.

"Ha ha, fine. Then you're on! Whoever catches the most fish wins!" He said as he dashed and dived into the water.

"No fair I'm not ready yet!" Aqua said as she rapidly undressed. It never occurred to her that she never planned for the beach and as such didn't have any swim appropriate stuff. She paid no mind as she stood in her breast wraps and tight panties as she ran into her namesake.

Aqua quickly caught up to Sora who already had two fish. Aqua didn't bother with talking to him as that would waste time. She started diving to find fish and was having a hard time finding any. She noticed he kept creating distance between the two of them, and thought that he must know where all the good spots were to find fish. It was no good as she just could not find anything. She contemplated using magic to cheat, but thought it was in poor taste since she couldn't sense any magic from Sora. After about ten minutes of looking, Sora started to make his way back to shore. Aqua decided he must have gotten enough so she followed him as well.

"Well now, let's tally up the results. I haaaaave..Ta-Da! 24 fish!" Sora said with a flourish.

"Yeah yeah rub it in, I have 3 fish." Said Aqua. "How did you catch so many! I was following you to find all the sweet spots you were trying to keep from me but you took them all before I could get any" She fumed.

"Oh is that why you kept following me? No I kept moving because you kept splashing around like a huge whale. There were already plenty of fish, you just kept scaring them away. Have you never fished with your hands before? City girl!" Sora teased.

Flustered at being compared to a whale and being called out, Aqua summoned her Keyblade and conjured a Waterza spell. Sora's laughter quickly died down as an actual small mountain of water hovered over his head.

"W-wait Aqua calm down! Um, l-let's talk this out!" He pleaded.

"You don't call a fair maiden a whale you neanderthal!" Aqua yelled, releasing the mountain right on Sora.

"Ah shi-" Sora let out as he got buried under the water that felt like a thousand tidal waves crashing against his still sore form.

After about three minutes the water Aqua conjured up receded into the ocean. She walked up to Sora's prone form as he seemed unresponsive. She kicked him hoping to get him to do something but he didn't move a muscle. Panic started to set in as Aqua got worried she had actually hurt him. She didn't think the over kill of a water spell was too much because in her head Sora was a god and nothing could keep him down. Clearly three continuous minutes of drowning was enough to take him out. With a sense of urgency she kneeled beside him and shook him while calling out his name, needing him to respond, but nothing happened. Out of options she was readying herself to perform CPR and have Sora cough the water out. She only paused momentarily to blush as she lowered her lips to his.

Little did she know, this whole time Sora was just playing dead to get back at her for the spell. He kept his eyes closed through everything she tried to do. When he felt her pause at his side he was ready to come up and give her a scare. As she was coming down, he started to come up. They met in the middle.

Their lips met and neither of them knew what hit them. Aqua felt as if vines of electricity branched out from her lips within her body, connecting to every nerve she had in a fantastic wave or pleasure. Sora was for a brief moment feeling as if he had hugged the embodiment of happiness with his lips. The moment quickly faded as Kairi came crashing into his mind and he rolled away from Aqua with a tomato red face and heavy breaths.

They both simply stared at each other, wondering what they should say or do after their fleeting but delightful kiss. Sora was the first to pipe up.

"W-wha, why did you do that, I was fine! I mean, I wasn't supposed to, um. I don't, ah, well," Sora rambled on.

Aqua would have giggled at Sora's incoherent words if she wasn't feeling the same. "Sora I'm so sorry! I thought-I thought you had drowned! I was afraid I h-hurt you, so I was gonna do CPR." She stumbled through. Aqua was bewildered as to how her pure intentions resulted in a kiss. Her...first kiss.

"I was just playing dead to get at you for the overkill! I mean seriously, how much power did you pump into that water spell?!" Sora said.

"I was just messing around! And I was fine, I guess. But we, we, we-" Sora stuttered.

"We kissed…" Aqua said demurely, head slightly hanging low.

Sora's mind was going a mile a minute. It wasn't that he hated Aqua, he remembered that bliss he felt for those precious few seconds. But he had Kairi, and he made a promise to her! This would hurt her so much if she found out. The mere thought of her crying because of him again sent him into a fit of manic breathing. He started to hyperventilate and his hands started to curl up tightly into semi-fists. The image of Kairi killing herself was plastered on the forefront of his mind and his chest tightened painfully as a result.

Aqua saw Sora slowly descend into a panic attack, and then to an outright frenzied state of dread. She didn't think an accidental kiss would bother him so much, and she had no clue as to what to do. "I'll go get Kairi!" She said, figuring Kairi could calm Sora down. Unfortunately, that was the wrong thing to say.

Sora lunged at Aqua, easily pinning her down on the ground with his superior physical strength. He held her down at her wrists, sitting on her and leaning his body weight into her to keep her down. Aqua was shocked and blushed furiously at their compromising position. She was still in her chest wrappings and tight underwear, and clearly felt Sora's manhood pressed against her stomach. His grip became painful on her wrists and she winced at the pressure.

"Sora, i-it hurts" she whimpered.

Realizing what he was doing, Sora rolled once more away from her and stood up straight as a pole.

"I'm sorry! Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry!" he said, eyes brimming with tears.

"It' okay," Aqua assured, "but why did you tackle me?"

"You can't tell Kairi!" He said with a raised and alarmed voice.

"It was an accident, I don't think she would hold it against you for too long. Plus you were having a full blown panic attack! What was that about? Are you okay?" Aqua said.

"No no no no, you don't understand. She can never find out. Please, don't tell her!" Sora begged.

Aqua could tell something was off, but was acutely worried that denying Sora would result in another panic attack. "Okay" she conceded, "I won't tell her, or anyone."

"Swear to me! Swear on your Keyblade!" He demanded.

Aqua was taken aback. Sora was a Master now, and as such he would have learned his Keyblade's true name. To swear on that name was the most bonding thing any keyblade bearer could do. Yet still he asked it of her. She mulled it over for a bit, figuring she really wasn't going to tell anybody anyway so there wouldn't be any harm if it meant Sora would feel better too. Thus, she summoned her ke blade, and Sora walked up and gripped the handle with her. Looking right into his turmoil filled eyes, she swore.

"I, Master Aqua, student of the late Master Eraqus, orphan of unclear heritage, proclaim on this day that I will not tell Kairi that we kissed. This vow I swear on my keyblade, Amrutam, to never break as long as I shall live." She announced.

Her keyblade gave a brief flash of bright light, and a locking sound resounded off the metal in a sharp click. Sora felt the oath being engraved in his heart from her own. It calmed him down and he was able to take deep breaths to relax. He Beamed a warm smile at her, and it was as if his crazy episode never happened.

"Thanks a bunch Aqua. I knew you'd understand."

She did not.

"Well, I guess we should take the fish back to Kairi." Aqua said.

Suddenly they both became aware that the fish was nowhere in sight, washed away by the large waters and since forgotten. With a groan, they realized that their hard work had gone down the drain, and Aqua manipulated the water to pick up multiple fish in orbs of water, letting the orbs splash onto the hot white sand in front of them. Sora counted 33 fish and gave out a whistle.

"Whoa, looks like you win after all huh!" He said laughing without a care about his loss.

"Darn right I did." Aqua said with a slight smirk.

Gathering up the fish and tying them into portable bundles, they started off back to where they last saw Kairi to turn in their bounty, picking some mushrooms along the way. All the while Aqua never noticed Sora's gaze lingering on her form as she walked a bit ahead, having chosen to forgo her regular attire.

* * *

Kairi sat on the shore, idly crafting plates and spoons and pots out of rocks and sticks. Her magic worked effortlessly, so much so she didn't feel any drain on her mana. She wondered if this newfound feeling of power had anything to do with it. She heard the soft shuffling of sand and looked up, catching sight of Aqua and Sora. She noticed Aqua with surprise, as she had never seen her in anything but her armor. Aqua was the picture perfect babe, her figure tight but not overly defined. Her breast expertly wrapped by a thin but thickly layered cloth which did nothing to hide her perky nipples from headlighting. Her thighs were a creamy white and there wasn't an inch of unsightly fat on them. Her underwear were barely worthy of being called that, having ridden up nicely in such a way that you just barely had to use your imagination. Over all, Kairi was terribly aware that Aqua was a fully developed woman and that she had her beat in pretty much every physical department. And she was strutting her ass in front of Sora.

'At least he has the sense of mind to not mindlessly gawk at it' she thought, as Sora was looking to the side as if he didn't care at all about what was in front of him. It did little to stem the growing jealousy she felt.

"Kairi!" Sora called out, pacing past Aqua and right up to Kairi. "Aqua caught so much fish!"

Indeed, Kairi saw the bundled masses over Sora and Aqua's shoulders. She counted well over 20, and was satisfied that it would be more than enough for everyone.

"Great job guys! It'll take another hour or so to get everything cooked and ready to serve. Let's get started!" Kairi said.

Aqua decided to tend to the vegetables and fungi, dicing up lettuce mushrooms and carrots with aero magic. Sora decided he would filet and wash the fish with a knife Kairi had made, and was impressed with how sharp it was. He idly noted how much she has improved, especially considering the feats she accomplished in her Dive to Heart. As for Kairi she lit a campfire and cooked everything as it was properly prepared, making vegetable soup and fried fish. When the cooking was near completion, Kairi sent Sora off to wake the others, those, as she put it"Lazy bums".

That left Kairi alone with Aqua for about 15 minutes or so. Aqua was suddenly hyper aware of Kairi's presence. Thoughts of kissing Sora began filling her mind and she couldn't bring herself to even look in Kairi's direction. Kairi noticed Aqua's tense shoulders and wondered if she was okay.

"Hey, are you okay Aqua?" she asked.

"Y-yeah! I mean yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking. Why do you ask?" Aqua said, forcing herself to meet Kairi's eyes.

And then she was locked in, and could not look away. It was getting awkward, the intensity and duration of Aqua's stare. Kairi's face fell a bit and readjusted her seated position slightly next to the crackling fire.

"You just seemed a little tense is all. You must be hungry after picking up all of Sora's slack while fishing. For all his accomplishments he can be still be such a lazy bum hehe" Kairi giggled.

Even through Aqua's anxiety, the phrase "lazy bum" was starting to get really old. She rolled her eyes.

"I just ended up using water magic. It was pretty painless honestly" Aqua said. She wasn't technically lying, she did use water magic, and fish were involved. Remembering her first kiss, she quickly stood up and turned around so Kairi would not see her beat red face. "Gee I wonder what is taking Sora so long. I'll go check!" she said, speed walking off toward the treehouse.

Kairi just sat next to the fire wondering about her odd behaviour, but not dwelling on it for too long. 'Geez, I wish I had an ass like that' she hotly thought to herself, before she turned towards the fire and finished up the cooking.

* * *

After much groaning and grumpy protesting, Sora managed to get everyone awake and around the campfire for breakfast. He was surprised when Aqua joined him, but easily accepted the help. He chose not to comment on the fact that she had once again put on her usual attire, continuing his failing crusade to ignore her femine wiles. Roxas and Ventus were a nightmare to wake up. Roxas was expected, what with his pseudo bad boy attitude. But Ventus giving him the finger was a hilarious surprise. Everyone went about their morning rituals and had finally herded themselves to the campfire.

They chatted and ate, sending appreciative comments towards Kairi for how good everything tasted.

"Hey, I helped too! And so did Aqua! Where's our compliments" Sora said pouting cutely.

"You helped about as much as a father helps when making a baby." Lea said, chuckling despite his full mouth.

"What's that supposed to mean? It takes both the dad and the mom, I'm just as important." Sora said.

"He means, your 3 minutes of grunting effort pales against her 9 months of actual hard work, duffus" Roxas followed up.

Everyone laughed at the gawking noise Sora made, and could see the protest in his eyes. He chose to let it go, just chuckling along himself and how ridiculous it all was. The group fell into a comfortable silence as they continued eating. Then, Mickey decided it was a good time to inform everyone what would be happening after breakfast.

"Well I agree, Sora you should definitely go see Master Yen Sid for a check up. It'd be irresponsible to just take it for granted that you succeded" Riku said, very glad that Mickey was taking initiative and getting Sora checked up.

"Well, why doesn't Kairi also get a check up? She may not have abused the Power Of Waking like you did, but she was still exposed to it." Xion said.

"She is coming" Sora said sternly. Everyone took this at face value, but Aqua and Riku noticed the highly protective manner in which it was said. Neither chose to say anything about it though. Riku thought he was just over thinking, and Aqua was still trying to piece it all together. Sora continued.

"And you're right, it can't hurt for her to get checked out. I just overlooked it because everyone was saying I was the one in danger, but I absolutely want to make sure she is totally okay" Sora finished and took Kairi's hand in his, causing her to flush at the PDA.

Lea and Roxas, ever the mature individuals, made catcalls and kissing noises in response.

"Look at the engaged couple being all lovey dovey!" Roxas said.

"Which reminds me, when is this wedding happening!?" Xion squealed.

The group erupted into giggles and congradulations. All but Aqua, who was more subdued and was content to just smile tightly at them.

"W-well, I don't see a reason to postpone it any longer than necessary" Sora said, grining wildly while totally embarrassed. "Let's have it when we get back from Yen Sid so we know we are all set to go."

"That sounds wonderful, Sora" Kairi said, leaning in to claim his lips.

"You're not supposed to kiss the bride just yet you know" Aqua said, causing Sora to jerk away from Kairi in apprehension, much to her annoyance. He eyed her nervously, scared at the power she now held over him, despite her promise.

Mickey took this chance to speak up. "Well, all the more reason to go to Yen Sid and get this business over with. I could use some R&R with my misses as well."

With that everyone went back to their food and quickly finished up. Lea and Roxas had decided they were going to get some training done and asked Xion if she wanted to join. While Ventus told Aqua he was beginning to get concerned for Terra, and that they should go find him and make sure he is okay.

"No, I think I'm too stuffed from all that yummy food. I'll just hang around. You two have fun, don't blow up the island" Xion responded, waving as her two best friends walked away.

"Listen Ven, you're free to look for him but I'm just not ready yet. I think I'll stay here, sorry" Aqua said. Ventus nodded his head in understanding and gave her a hug before wandering off.

"Well, you guys ready?" The King asked Sora and Kairi.

"Yes sir, take us away!" Sora said happily, with Kairi at his side holding his hand.

"I'm going too. Why don't we use they starseeker to teleport to Yen Sid?" Riku said. "We are both linked to it. Sora and Kairi will have to use the gummy ship but they shouldn't be too far behind."

"Alright Riku sure. We can go ahead and have everything set up and let the Master know they are on their way. Let's get going then" Mickey said. With that Riku placed his right hand on Mickey's shoulder and Mickey held the star shaped device up, whisking them away in a flash of bright light that seemed to bounce around hitting nothing.

Donald and Goofy had gorged themselves on the surplus of food, so they just said they would see everyone when they returned, and layed on the sand to take a nap.

"Okay Kairi, let's get going" Sora said, to which Kairi nodded her consent.

Sora pulled out a square device with a button, pressing the button. From the distance, he could hear the soft hum of blazing engines kick on in response, and within thirty seconds the gummy ship was before them. As he montioned to get on, Aqua's voice stopped him.

"Hey guys! Um actually, would you mind if I came along? Aqua asked.

"Actually Aqua, this won't take too long, we will be right back, it would just be a waste of your time" Kairi said.

"Oh" Aqua responded, looking directly at Sora. Sora's heart started to pick up it's pace and he couldn't tell if it was because of his irrational fear or something else…

"Well, if you have nothing better to do why not join us after all Aqua?" Sora said, slightly nervous. He suddenly felt the grip on his hand tighten rather painfully and stifled a yelp. Kairi was looking at him non too pleased.

"Oh! Sure! I mean, if that's okay with both of you." Aqua said, catching her excitement.

Kairi just let a slow sigh. "Sure Aqua, I don't mind at all" 'So much for some private time. Stupid Sora, doesn't even know he just cock blocked himself!'

As they were getting on, Xion decided she didn't really want to do nothing herself.

"Hey, mind if I tag along as well?" Xion asked.

Before Kairi could say anything Sora beat her to it saying "Sure! The more the merrier!" As Xion joined them on embarking, Kairi only had one thought going through her head.

'I am most definitely not feeling merry right about now.'

* * *

Aqua and Xion were marveling at the interior of the gummy ship as it dashed on through space. Aqua had never been in a gummy ship and even though she had been on the Federation's ship, it was different. The gummy ship was much more colorful. Xion marveled being in actual space. The Corridors of Darkness were boring compared to the colorful ship and wondrous stars and glittering void. Kairi was more focused on how Aqua decided to to take the seat closest to Sora and Sora was just relaxing with his hands folded behind his head, leaning into his seat.

"Don't be too impressed ladies, it's just space" Sora chuckled.

Aqua pouted cutely at his teasing. "It's really pretty. Look, a shooting star! Oh, another shooting star!" Aqua said, forgetting the conversation.

Sora just chuckled to himself. "Amateurs."

Kairi decided she had enough of Aqua "accidentally" brushing her leg against Sora's exposed calf. Kairi got up and made her way over to Sora, softly sitting in his lap in a way that made sure he FELT she was sitting on his lap. Blushing but wanting to play a little game, she looked at Sora with mischief in her eyes.

"If you put your hands on me, you lose." Kairi informed him.

Sorely tempted to embrace her but not willing to lose before it even started, Sora smirked right at her. "You're on."

Kairi made herself very comfortable, nuzzling her firm butt into his lap in a gyrating motion. Sora began to feel his manhood grow, something he was acutely shy about, but he did not want to give in. He channeled some fire infused mana to create a heating effect on his thighs. Kairi, who was seated on them, felt the pleasant warmth start to work it's way into her core. Sora added a curative aspect to it as well as some wind magic and it felt like Sora was massaging her insides with magic. Kairi wondered where Sora learned something like this. She felt herself switch from pleasantly enjoying it to getting pleasure from it. She flushed at the shift and tried her best to not allow the dampness accumulating to drip onto Sora. She was in her skirt and was stradling Sora now, so it was very likely.

At this point, it was a battle of wills. Neither wanted to make a mess, so whoever is brought closest to the edge will be the loser, because they will stop before the other, thus ending their game. Kairi was clearly not to win this game, because after feeling Sora's fully erect member press against her maiden lips Kairi shuddered and bounced off of him. This left him exposed for the world to see. Or in this case, the ship. Kairi was leaning heavily against the command dashboard, careful to not press any buttons but out of breath.

Aqua and Xion had been watching the exchange with annoyance and interest, respectively. When Kairi hopped off, they both looked on in awe. It wasn't just the large budge straining sideways against Sora's pants, but Sora himself that made them flush. He was panting heavily, and his skin seemed to be pulsing as if the veins under it were pushing against it. Sweat dotted his forehead and made him glisten. His eyes were half drawn shut but sharp and hungry. His muscles were all tight, as if he had just used them to great strain. He was gorgeous and sexy and sexual tension rolled off of him in waves that submerged everyone on the ship.

"Looks like your loss Kai" He said, regaining himself a lot quicker than Kairi thought he should have.

His bulge was gone and his breathing evened out. She chose to ignore the flushed faces of the other two passengers, as she accepted that they would see everything when she started. Of course, that was the point, so they would know Sora was hers. But she was a secretly prideful person, and the loss made her tongue loose.

"Wow I honestly thought you'd volcano all over me" she said, a slight snide to her tone,

"Well, I admit it was a close match, but let's just say I've built up quite the endurance over my travels" Sora said. And he instantly regretting saying it how he did, hearing how he sounded once it left his lips.

"Oh, so you've gotten lots of practice huh? I guess travelling the universe saving damsels in distress in a very rewarding gig huh!" Kairi said, embarrassed rage creeping up on her features.

"W-wait no! I didn't mean it like that! I meant all the fighting! Goofy told me once that all the fighting was basically one long workout, day in and day out. He said that one of the benefits would be uh, urm, endurance down there as well" Sora finished.

Kairi eyed him, calming down only when she remembered reading an article in Twilight Hour tabloid confirming what Sora said. Satisfied that the information added up, she returned to her seat with a content smile on her face.

"Well, I'll be sure to put all that endurance to good use in a few short days" she said.

They were coming upon the Mysterious Tower now. Aqua had mulled over Sora in all his sexy glory the entire rest of the trip. Xion did as well, but found herself not minding how Kairi panted for breath either. The ship landed, and worlds away a certain great ninja was recovering from a sneezing fit.


	4. The Great Divide

Finally some proper action this chapter. We get to see a bit more how the Darkness will affect Sora, and maybe where it comes from…?

* * *

Sora and his group disembarked the gummy ship and wasted no time making their way to Master Yen Sid's study up the tower. Mickey and Riku stood at the great Master's sides. Everyone entered the room and bowed in respect, except Xion who didn't really know him. She had never met Yen Sid before, and did not know how great his accomplishments were. Yen Sid never minded it though, he knew there were more important things at hand.

"Greetings Master, I have come as requested. With me is Master Aqua, Kairi and Xion" Sora said, slightly surprising Kairi with his formal manner of speech. She was very much accustomed to the laid back Sora.

"Master Sora, welcome. It is a pleasure to see you, and all of you as well. Mickey has informed me of the situation, and I agree that it is best to look as I can to ensure there are no issues. The Power of Waking is an awesome power to behold, but it usually is granted to someone in a time of great need, and only for a specific purpose. Those who have abused it outside of that purpose, never get away without consequence. I pray you are the exception." Yen Sid finished, and he motioned for Sora and Kairi to step forward. "At your request, I will also check Kairi, but I will examine you first Sora. Please summon your Keyblade. I will place my hand upon it and use it as a conduit to search your heart for anything of concern."

Following instructions, Sora summoned his Keyblade and walked closer so Yen Sid could touch it. Yen Sid did so, and felt the pull on his consciousness that sent him into Sora's heart.

* * *

Yen Sid looked around, taking in the light that was Sora's heart. Even he could feel the warmth of openness and love that poured forth from Sora, and it made him smile that there were still people with such light. Expanding his senses, he suddenly felt an icy cold invade his mind.

'Darkness? This deep in the heart?' He thought to himself, alarmed.

Yen Sid followed the direction he felt the darkness and it led to Sora's Dive to Heart. What he saw shocked him. There was Kairi, tall along the stained glass. She was glowing slightly, brighter than the rest of the glass. Sora was on his knees in front of her, facing away. Kairi had her hands on Sora from behind him, one cupping his cheek the other resting over where his heart would be. He saw what he could only describe as darkness seeping from Kairi into Sora.

'What does this mean?' He pondered.

Suddenly he was knocked down from his floating position over the stained glass, and sent rocketing toward the ground. He tried to stop himself but the force was absolute. All he could do was cross his arms as he slammed into the glass, taking all the damage while the glass took none. Groaning at the pain, he tried to lift his head only for it to be held down by what felt like a grip.

"**My my my, what do we have here. A wayward child of dust. What are you doing snooping around where you don't belong?" **he heard a voice say. As soon as he heard the voice his fight-or-flight senses went berserk, not caring which he chose but that he chose right now!

There was nothing he could do, his magic failed. It wasn't being suppressed, blocked, or stolen either. The force the creatures mere presence radiated was simply such that no aspect of his being could push against its weight. He found he could speak, but figured that it was only so because the creature willed it as such.

"Beast, from whence have you come? This is Sora's heart, what business do you have here?" he grounded out of clenched teeth.

"**Poor child, have you forgotten your mother's loving touch?" **the being said, pressing down on Yen Sid's heart such that he thought it would burst.

"My mother has long since passed, you speak in lies. Will you answer me, or will you kill me?" He asked. He knew this creature was entirely out of the league of mortals. He figured being direct would at least speed things along to whatever conclusion.

"**I thought I gave you a little more power and brains than the rest of your kin. If you are a child of dust, surely you must have a mother, no?"** the creature said, sounding condescending.

Yen SId's eyes widened. There was only one being that could do what she was doing. Moving freely in a Dive to Heart, subduing him so easily, and the things it was saying.

"How, if you are who you say you are, why are you doing this? Why would you allow darkness in your champion?" Yen Sid said in rising panic.

"**My champion? How presumptuous of you to assume to know my desires." **the creature said with malice dripping off it's words.

"B-but you are light! You are-" Yen Sid never got to finish his words, as the creature crushed the skull it held in its hand. Instead of blood and gore, it exploded in a flash of light, expelling Yen Sid's consciousness out of Sora completely, sending him crashing back into his body.

* * *

Mickey could feel something was off with his Master as sweat began pouring down his face. Suddenly, Yen Sid was blasted back roughly into his chair with a flash of light from Sora's Keyblade. Mickey quickly turned to his Master's side with a curaga spell already half way cast.

"Master!" Mickey yelled in alarm.

Riku was concerned, but didn't see anything else immediately wrong with Yen Sid, and Sora looked perfectly fine. Yen Sid regained himself within a few seconds and gazed upon everyone in the room, who were looking at him with concern and expectation. Even the three fairies had heard the commotion and were floating nearby. He took a deep breath to collect his thoughts and spoke on what he found.

"There is something very wrong with your heart Sora. I went deep inside of your heart, and found darkness. There was a-" Yen Sid choked on the word he was trying to say. "A -!" This time he almost vomited. Clearly whatever was causing this did not want him to disclose the creature he found. He figured it was that very same creature that was the culprit.

"I...can not fully disclose what I found. A higher power forbids it. But there is a...weight," He tried, "that is the embodiment of evil lurking within you. For your exploits, you have been awarded a heavy darkness. A darkness more sinister than even Xehanort himself. For at least Xehanort was simply misguided, this darkness within you is savage and truly evil."

Everyone took in Yen Sid's words and contemplated them. As for Yen Sid, he really wanted to call it a day and rest, but knew there was no way he could skip checking Kairi. Just as he was about to motion her forward to him, Sora spoke up.

"Hold up, are you serious? You're telling me that I'm worse than Xehanort? Seriously? You think Xehanort was just some misguided hero? Seriously!?" Sora yelled, clearly worked up.

"Hey now Sora, there's no reason to get all worked up" Mickey said, slightly defensive for his Master.

"Oh, come off it Mickey! I only had to use the Power Of Waking at all because you couldn't be bothered to actually do anything 15 years ago! Instead you let Xehanort gain power and seduce Terra with darkness. Where were you? In fact where were YOU Yen Sid? Retirement means you get to sit on your ass and do nothing while the World burns?!" Sora was breathing rapidly again, his hands curling up to half fists.

"How dare you address the Master as such! You will show respect to the one who taught you everything you know!" Mickey shouted back. Mickey was a King, and was very slow to anger. There were just two things you did not disrespect. His Queen, and his Master. Yen Sid just looked out, studying the scenario playing out before him. He did feel that familiar sting of failure at Sora's words however.

Kairi was standing close to Sora trying to get him to calm down with soothing rubs on his back, to no avail. Riku was standing to his side still, a tense look on his face, no doubt nervous about Sora and Mickey's bickering evolving into something more violent. He saw Aqua, and by Kingdom Hearts how it still pained him to lay eyes on her, his ultimate failure. She had accusing eyes set on him, no doubt she seconded everything Sora was saying. He conceded that she had good reason to. Of everyone that survived Xehanort, she has been hurt the most. He spared Xion a quick glance, the newcomer just looking at everything completely lost. The fairies had left the moment Yen Sid returned from Sora's heart.

"This hack can speak for himself, if he was half the man everyone hypes him up to be! I've only seen this bag of bones do one thing, and he could barely keep half of those heartless at bay!" Sora screamed, now right in Mickey's face.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Face. Sora." Mickey demanded, gritting his teeth tightly.

"Mickey relax don't do anything crazy we just need to calm down and regroup." Riku said, trying to play peacemaker. Sora wasn't having any of it though. In his head, this was a long time coming.

"Make me." Sora said, summoning his Keyblade in a clear challenge.

Kairi felt her heart drop, wondering where this animosity was coming from. Riku froze, unable to process the scene before him. His two best friends were about to clash Keyblades in anger. Xion just stood there, very used to violence from her time in the organization, though she didn't know why Sora flew off the handle like that. Aqua had a crazed smile plastered on her face, hoping Mickey would fight Sora. She knew Sora would win, that her God would get vengeance for the wrong done to her by this hideous animal of a king. Yen Sid just sighed. This was all so very tiresome and he knew there was truth to Sora's words. He motioned his hands in a mystical circle, just as Mickey willed his Keyblade into existence.

"Now now, children, outside." Yen Sid said, and teleported everyone outside save himself. He stood up and looked out through his uniquely shaped window and sighed heavily.

"Sora, what is it that ails you…"

* * *

Everyone suddenly felt a shift in their surroundings. It nauseated most of them but not Sora, as he was been trans/teleported so many times in so many different ways he has lost count. Seeing that they were just outside of the Mysterious Tower, Sora figured Yen Sid must have done it. Seeing Mickey stumble to his feet, Sora let out a scoff.

"Ha, even your master is afraid of me. Shows how great he is!" Sora mocked.

All of Sora's trash talking along with this new wave of frustration from being teleported without warning was enough to push Mickey towards blind rage. With a loud battle cry, he lounged at Sora in a motion to stab right through him.

Sora saw the direct attack and laughed. Mickey was so slow it was like he was moving at half speed. Sora easily parried the thrust and threw an elbow that connected with Mickey's large jaw. Mickey was pushed back but recovered with a flip in the air. Sora wanted to make a move this time, so he channeled mana and readied a Sonic Blade attack.

"Ready? Here it comes! Ha!" Sora bellowed, thrusting forward at the speed of sound.

Mickey barely avoided the first one, and only because it was so telegraphed. He just avoided being stabbed by the second thrust, though his shirt was taken off of most of his torso and replaced with a long but shallow cut. Not wanting to risk the next strike being the last, Mickey fell back on his strongest suite: Magic. He quickly erected a barrier around him to block the next thrust.

"Reflectza!" Mickey cried, deciding to pump up the barrier to be an attack as well.

Sora clearly saw what Mickey had done, but decided to let it ride out and see what would happen. So he went head first into the barrier, and was thrown back in force, crashing into a tree. Sora quickly shrugged off the damage and stood up ready to continue.

"Just admit it, I'm better than you Sora. So know your place, peasant." Mickey said, with all the cockiness of royalty.

It was at this point that the others began to come to. Riku helped Kairi stand up straight as she regained orientation. Xion didn't bother standing up, and just sat against a rock. Aqua got up on her own, following the sound of battle and finding Mickey and Sora locked in combat. They now traded blow after blow, Mickey being much faster being in one spot as opposed to having to close distance. Riku came with Kairi to the fighting, and Xion just looked in interest at their forms and how good they were.

Mickey was glad Sora got close after the disrupted Sonic Blade. Anatomically, Mickey was very small. This made it hard for him to close distances quickly in a fight. He was trained to compensate by being as swift as the wind in straight up hand to hand, utilizing his physical size to increase his speed. Sora was now having a much harder time fighting him as a result. They were now about equal in speed, but Sora's physical strength being much greater than Mickey's was gaining Sora ground. Aqua noticed that Sora was basically winning, as he was landing more blows and Mickey was bleeding a lot more than he was.

"Yes Sora! Teach him a lesson! Teach him that you don't just leave people, your friends, abandoned in darkness! Teach him the pain of being alone! Punish him for his sins!" Aqua yelled over to Sora.

She was tearing up as she relived the pain and suffering she went through in the realm of darkness. She would never tell of them, not fully. The darkness is the embodiment of evil and selfishness. There was nothing that wasn't done to her by it. Not a single innocence was spared.

Sora had a unique connection with Aqua. Having been the one to save her from the realm of darkness, he knew it wasn't as simple as just 'beating the darkness out of her' as their mutual friend from Radiant Garden, Just A Pancake, put it. He had to embrace her darkness and cleanse it into light. This means he felt everything she felt, emotionally and physically. At her request, right after saving her and when they caught a moment alone, he told her he would never tell a soul of the horrors she faced. She decided she would rather pretend nothing ever happened in the dark. But those demons lurk, and they never fully go away. Sora could feel the pain radiating as good as any light would from Aqua, and it fueled his righteous fury.

"You are a disgrace!" Sora bellowed, bringing his keyblade into a vicious swing that carried all his strength and body weight in it. The blow violently slammed into Mickey's Keyblade, knocking it away and leaving his hands burning with how terrible the vibrations from the attempted block was. Sora kicked Mickey to the ground and immediately went to ram his Keyblade into Mickey's throat.

"Stop!" Kairi screamed in horror, actually casting a Stop spell on Sora to freeze him. Riku took this opportunity to grab Mickey and get well away from Sora.

After 10 seconds Sora started moving and fell down onto his butt. Aqua was coming down from her memory and pain induced mania and realized the things that she said. Sora looked at her, and a single tear escaped his left eye. She let more fall from her own, holding his gaze. He looked to Xion who seemed a bit shaken. She was used to death and brutality, just not from Sora. Kairi was busy healing Mickey of the wounds he sustained from the fight, and Riku stood protectively between them and Sora with his arms folded over his chest.

"What were you thinking! I'm all for friends working issues out through fists, but you saw he was down! You were going to kill him! You were going to kill Mickey!" Riku yelled at him. He was very much upset at one friend almost killing another. The irony wasn't lost on him, but he was over his past at this point.

"N-no. I-I didn't mean to. I just got so mad! Your highness please, I'm sorry" Sora said.

Mickey looked up to Sora with a stern stare. "I understand you were upset. I am also at fault as well, I engaged. But no matter what I would never try to actually kill you! Yen Sid said there is a heavy darkness in you, you need to figure out why and how to get it out. Until then, I can't trust you."

Sora looked like his heart was broken, and it was. His actions cost him one of his most precious things. A friend. He went to get closer but Riku stepped up to him and pushed him away. Then Kairi spoke.

"Sora, you should just go" Kairi told him.

Sora felt the blood in his veins freeze.

'Kairi just told me to go away. But I promised her I would never go away. Does Kairi want me to break my promise? B-But I don't want to break my promise. I can't break my promise! I won't break my promise! If these other people are making her want me to go away then, then,' Sora's mind raced.

Aqua saw Sora's breathing pick up again, and his fists curled half closed. The half fists looked strained and were turning white with the amount of pressure Sora was placing on those muscles. She tried to get Kairi to change her mind as by having Sora leave Kairi would only make it worse.

"Look Kairi, I think Sora is really sorry, maybe let me take over in healing the King, then you and Sora can head back and talk about it all" she offered.

"There is no way I'd leave you with the King! You were the one spurring Sora on! You're to blame as well!" Kairi said, accusing venom lacing every word.

Sora was slowly losing his mind, stuck in what he perceived as a paradox. Kairi wanted him to leave, but he can't leave. He started losing his vision, the very edges falling into black. But this wasn't the typical lack of oxygen consequence. Darkness leaked from Sora's eyes, trailing down his cheeks as if they were tears. He couldn't take it anymore? Didn't she get it? Everything he has done, it was for her! Sure he had to leave her alone for a lot of it, but if he didn't she wouldn't be alive to be mad about it! He saved the World thrice over for her, basically single handedly. He gave her his heart, figuratively and literally. He turned down most propositions offered to him, just to stay loyal to her. How could she be...why was she being so…!

"You-you ungrateful bitch!" Sora screamed at her, his own voice sounding unfamiliar to him at the use of profanity. "I gave you everything I had! I saved the dirt you're walking on! If it wasn't for me you would have died at Hollow Bastion!"

Kairi looked horrified at Sora's verbal abuse, and that coupled with the brutality he displayed towards Mickey pushed Kairi further.

"You're being an animal! It hasn't even been a full day since I've come back and you're already someone I don't even know! You're a monster!" She screamed right back at him.

The two of them were now locked in a yelling match and everyone stood around uncomfortably, wondering what would happen next. Mickey got up and started hobling away. Once about 30 feet from them all, he used his starseeker to take him away. Aqua saw Mickey as he flew away in light, and let out a scornful snort. She walked over to Xion and engaged her, as Riku was fruitlessly trying to calm his two best friends down.

"Hey Xion" Aqua greeted, taking a seat right next to Xion on the same rock as her.

"Hey. Crazy stuff huh?" Xion responded.

"Yeah. What's up with Yen Sid saying there's some darkness in Sora? Sora is the most light filled person I know." Aqua said.

"Trust me, I literally came from Sora, I know he is all butterflies and sunshine. But I know you can see the darkness literally leaking out from him" Xion said, pointing out Sora's eyes.

"Woah, I didn't notice. Maybe there really is darkness in him. But then how could he have beaten Xehanort?" Aqua said.

"I don't know, but the darkness isn't the problem. It was always there. I mean Sora has lost his heart twice that I know of. Darkness has to be in there. But he has always been able to keep it in balance." Xion said.

"Yeah, that and not to mentioned that he had to save all of us from our own hurt before he could set our hearts free, so he has all our darkness in him as well" Aqua said.

At this they both squirmed uncomfortably, as both girls did not want to revisit their pain.

"I guess something really did change when he used the Power Of Waking to save Kairi. Maybe this is his punishment. Slowly losing his grip on all the darkness deep within" Xion contemplated.

"Oh no" Aqua said with concern. "All that darkness running freely, it would consume him. We have to help him!"

"I owe Sora my very existence, there's nothing I wouldn't do to help him. I just don't know how…" Xion said, returning her attention to Sora and Kairi as their arguing reached critical mass.

"I will make sure Sora is okay. Whatever it takes" Aqua said, turning her attention towards the same place as Xion.

"Fine! If you won't leave, I'll leave!" Kairi said, turning away from Sora.

"No! You're not going anywhere!" Sora said as he gripped Kairi's wrist and yanked her towards himself.

"Ahh!" Kairi cried out in pain. Her wrist was bruised from the force Sora used.

"Enough Sora!" Riku shouted, slugging him right on the jaw with all his power.

The blow made Sora stagger back and release his grip on Kairi. Aqua could take it no more and got up to go to Sora's side. Xion figured some lines were about to be drawn in the sand, and went to go stand with her own.

"Fuck!" Sora yelled, his jaw sore but the pain quickly fading away.

"Sora, you have darkness in you. You need...you need to gain control again. I will help you with this, as I've walked down this road before. I won't abandon you. But you aren't safe to those you love right now. I am taking Kairi to Disney Castle. Then I will meet you on the Islands. We will figure this out, I promise." Riku reassured him.

"R-Riku, I'm scared. I-I'm so sorry, it's just so h-hard. I don't know what to feel! The King, Yen Sid, and Kairi, m-my love, please don't go!" Sora sobbed. It seemed there was a break in the darkness.

"Sora, I love you. But you're sick, and you need help. I will be...waiting...oh…" Kairi said. As she realized once again she would be waiting on him, her face fell, and Sora instantly panicked beyond all reason.

Summoning his Keyblade and screaming like a mad man he went to strike Riku to keep him from taking Kairi, but just as it was about to connect he vanished in a flash of light along with Xion and Aqua.

Yen Sid blinked into existence in front of the petrified Riku and Kairi. He looked at them and drew a long deep breath.

"I have sent them back to the Island. I watched everything that transpired and heard every word. It seems I was mistaken in what form the punishment would take." Yen Sid said.

"W-what do you mean?" Kairi said. Riku was still getting over having his life flash before his eyes.

"He used the Power Of Waking to save the most important person to him. It is only fitting that..that his love turn to obsession. For obsession is the perversion of love. There is no more fitting a punishment."

Kairi mulled over this horrible news. "B-but we love each other. We are supposed to be married!" she cried out.

"All the more proof that this is indeed his punishment. Listen carefully Kairi. I can not stop you from trying to help Sora. But to be involved with him, is to risk your life and the lives of anyone you come in contact with. Sora is very powerful, more powerful than Xehanort was at his prime, even equipped with the _X_-blade. The best thing for you right now, is to distance yourself from him while we find a way to help him. If there is a way to reverse this curse, I swear to you I will find it. Sora is the champion of the entire World, I will not see such a hero descended into darkness. Nevermind the fact that if he did fully give in to that darkness, no one present or past would be able to stand against him" Yen Sid said.

Riku had since recovered from his stunned state of mind, and hugged a sobbing Kairi. "Don't worry Kairi, we will figure this out. He's spent his entire life helping others, we will save him from himself. I promise."

Kairi let herself be led away by RIku into the gummy ship. Riku entered the coordinates for Disney Castle, and they were on their way.

Yen Sid stood alone in the greenery in front of his castle. He let a lone tear fall down his stone carved face. He had failed, again.

"All my life, has been nothing but failures" He spoke to himself. Only alone, and only rarely did he allow himself to feel the pain and failure that plagued his heart. Just as quickly as it came the moment was gone. He made his way back to his office. There was work to be done.

* * *

Sora had just sat there on the beach. It was night time, and when he first got there there was still daylight. That's all he knows. Not how long.

In reality it had been a little over 6 hours. When Sora first arrived, his swing followed through and hit nothing but sand, tearing a large gorge 20 feet deep and 10 feet across. He looked in horror as he realized that was what he was going to do to Riku. Xion and Aqua just stood in silence. They knew that kind of violence against Riku was completely uncalled for, but they would stand by Sora even when he was wrong. So the three of them just stood there on the beach. Roxas and Lea eventually found them, just to hand them a note. Apparently the King had stopped there on his way to Disney Castle. He informed those on the Island of everything that happened, and Donald and Goofy left with the King, leaving the note to Lea to give to Sora when he returned.

Sora held that note in his hands now.

_Sora, _

_Me and Donald heard what happened, all of it. You know we love you and we are all best buds, but attacking the King like you did was terrible. Donald wanted to stick around and give you a piece of his mind, but I convinced him to just come along with me and the King back to the Castle. I know the King engaged you, so I know it's not all your fault. But the darkness in you needs to get sorted out. I hope Kairi and Riku can help you find your light again. As for us, well our home is the Kingdom, we can't choose you over our loyalty to it. I will keep in touch to see how things are going,_

_Truly Yours_

_Goofy_

After reading that Sora had just sat down and just stayed there, unmoving. Lea and Roxas didn't mind it all, figuring not to over think it and that it would sort itself out on its own in time. Xion had said a few words to them, finding out that Roxas kicked Lea's ass, before excusing herself to go sit next to Sora. Aqua didn't hear anything of or see Ventus, so she just sat down next to Sora as well. Thus they sat, staring out into the ocean, for over 6 hours.

With the moon high above them giving a taunting smile, and the stars unbidden by shroud of cloud, they were three dark blobs on the beach to anyone who spared a glance to them. Then Sora's stomach grumbled loudly, breaking Aqua of her quiet contemplation.

"Sora," she urged." let's go get something to eat. I think we all are pretty hungry since we haven't eaten since this morning."

"You two can go ahead. I'm going to stay here. I don't deserve to eat…" Sora responded.

Xion chose this moment to stand up and walk away, confusing Aqua. Sora didn't turn but felt her presence leaving.

"Look you deserve food just fine, you deserve whatever you want. You are not the bad guy, forget what Yen Sid said" Aqua said, trying to comfort him.

"I have darkness inside of me that I can't balance or control. I hurt Mickey, Donald and Goofy have left me. I hurt Kairi. I almost killed Riku. But you wanna know the worst part? I can't say that some part of me didn't want to do those things. It's like while I wasn't in full control, a part of me still was. A part of me...wanted to do those things. Those terrible, terrible things. I-I, I don't want to be like this. I worked so hard to save my friends and carve out a little slice of life for myself, but it's slipping away so fast I can't catch a single piece of it. I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this," Sora said, trapped in a verbal loop with his last sentence.

Aqua was at a loss. She wanted to encourage him, to show him the bright side, but who was she to tell him anything? In the end, she willingly gave in to the darkness. She knew that no matter what it did, no matter how it hurt her, she ultimately was the one that broke to it's torture. While she liked to think she lasted longer than most would have, she hadn't stayed true to the light, and as such didn't know what to tell this young hero who has. She did the only thing she really could, and scooted closer to Sora and hugged him tightly. He let himself be hugged by her, and even loosely wrapped his arms around her.

After a few minutes Xion returned, holding in her hand three fruits that were huge yellow and star shaped. She didn't know what they were called, but she figured it was edible and it was all she could do to help by providing something to eat so at least they didn't starve. She felt the closeness between Sora and herself, and knew that she would stay by his side no matter what. After all, she was Sora. Or at least that's how it felt to her. Despite having her own thoughts and feelings.

She walked up and handed two of the fruits to Aqua, who placed one down on her lap and tore two pieces of the other one before setting it down as well. She didn't bother to look at what the fruit was before eating a piece, and then offering the second torn off piece to Sora. At first, Sora did not want to accept the moist and yellow morsel, but as Aqua pressed it against his lips he did not resist her entry. She let it slide right on his tongue, and he chewed it obediently. Aqua was relieved he didn't fight her on this, and looked at her lap to see what they were eating. She froze and stiffened when she saw the unique shape and color of the Paopu fruit resting on her lap.

`Oh Shit' she thought, realizing what she and Sora just shared and the very real magic infused into these fruits.

"Hey, wanna hear something funny?" Sora said, still hugging her close.

"S-sure" Aqua said, with Xion sitting right in front of the two forming a disjointed triangle shape.

"Yen Sid's name spelled backwards is 'Disney'" Sora finished.

Xion laughed uproariously, while Aqua just thought it was a weird fact more than anything.


	5. Bitter Love

FInally, what I have been waiting to write. The camel's back, breaking.

* * *

Sora Aqua and Xion had fallen asleep on the beach through the night. Sora and Aqua lay side to side, and Xion was across both of their laps. All three were startled awake by the sound of a roaring engine. Sora cracked open his heavy eyelids in time to catch a blur of orange and red pass over the island, and settle a short distance over the waters facing them. It was his gummy ship, and he saw Riku at the helm cockpit holding the steering wheel steady. The disembark ramp open downward slowly, and Kairi walked down it. She reached the water before her, and channeled magic to allow her to walk on the water. She took a sure step onto the ocean and made her way towards Sora and the two woman with him. Once within ear shot, Sora stood up to greet Kairi.

"Kairi! You're back! I knew you didn't want to leave me." Sora said, his intoxicating grin in full blast. Kairi took a moment to cherish his smile before responding.

"Sora, I went to Disney Castle and spoke with everyone there. Donald is so pissed at you, and Goofy is so sad. Mickey is still recovering...and I spoke to Queen Minnie" Kairi said.

"Yeah, I got their note, they left it with Lea. And the Queen, she must be pretty angry with me too huh.." He lamented.

"Well, she is more upset with Mickey. Apparently, he should know better. But she talked to me about something else as well. The worlds, they need guidance. There are a lot of places still recovering from the effects of the war and darkness. I am a princess of heart, and a guardian of light. I should be out there, helping the people of the World." She said.

'Hardly a guardian when you don't even land one hit on the enemy but okay' Aqua thought, annoyed that her slumber was interrupted by Kairi of all people.

"Well, I've helped a multitude of worlds, and the World over all, we can go help everyone together! I'm perfectly fine now, you don't have to wait Kai. Let's go together!" Sora said, walking towards her and meeting her where the water met the sand.

"Sora...I...don't want you to come" Kairi said. It was barely over a whisper, but the whirling winds carried it far.

"W-what do you mean? Baby? What do you mean?" Sora asked.

It was as if time had stopped for the two of them. They stood there, her on the water and him on the shore. Her head looking down and his straight at her. The waves stood still, and the winds were nowhere to be found. Aqua and Xion felt as if they didn't exist, that they were outside spectators gazing upon a secret of the universe. All was quiet as Sora went to hold Kairi's hand, and she let him. He held them up to his lips and gave them each a kiss, making him smile at the affection, and her to lift her head to reveal tear filled eyes.

"Sora, I can't do this anymore" Kairi said, her voice creaking and threatening to shatter.

"Kairi, please, don't" Sora begged. He didn't want to hear what came next, he needed it to not be what he felt it to be. But it was.

"Over all these years, I've waited for you. I understand, okay. I understand that it had to be like it was. I wasn't strong enough to follow where you had to go, and you did have to go there. For everyone's sake. But I was still alone. I was still in pain. The few times I got to see you were like heaven to me, everything was perfect. But it was just harder and harder to let you go every time you had to go away again. I kept making my life revolve around those few precious yet fleeting moments. But...I can't make you my purpose. I want to so bad, but I can't be with you. You're sick, and I have a new calling now that you can't be a part of. And I won't make you wait either. I'm calling off the engagement. Sora…" She said.

Sora was freely crying, his entire body shivering in desolate hopelessness. "Plea-p-please d-d-d-don't-!"

"I will not marry you, Sora. I'm sorry. Forget our promise, forget about me. And I'll try to do the same. I won't live here anymore, I will travel and make my own story saving and helping anyone I can. This is goodbye." Kairi said, shifting her gaze as she could not bare to stand to look at Sora who had by now gotten on his knees and was begging her to stay with him between his erratic breathing and sobs.

"Kaiiiiri pleeeeeease nooooo don't gooo Kaaaiiiiriii!" we wailed, utterly pathetic before the heartache his beloved was gifting him with.

She softly took her hands out of his, grateful he didn't try to stop her. She looked at him one last time. "Goodbye, Sora. May your heart be your guiding key." She spoke, turning on the water and heading back to the gummy ship.

At the loss of Kairi's hands Sora began to scream, and the winds returned tenfold. The ocean seemed to violently churn in response to Sora's anguish, making Kairi sprint and jump to reach the platform. The Riku started the ship up before the ramp closed all the way due to the violent winds, and Kairi saw Sora staring murder right at her.

"You will regret this, Kairi." Sora said.

There was no logical way Kairi should have heard him over the blistering winds, but it was as if it was the winds themselves that slammed his words into her ears. She swallowed hard at the memory of him, the tender moments they shared. Then she thought of the loneliness she had suffered, and the fear that was instilled in her with Sora's recent outburst. She didn't want to leave him, but it was the right thing to do. Yen Sid knew better than her, and the world needed her guidance. So she would go, and hope she wouldn't regret scorning the most power being in the World. Because now, more than love, Sora inspired fear in her.

* * *

"**From love born obsession, from obsession born fear. Your light for her darkness. Do tell, was any of it worth it my dear? Ha hahaha" **a voice spoke high on a nearby tree.

It was the eternal woman that made Yen Sid her plaything, sitting on the top of a palm tree that seemed completely unaffected by the hurricane around it. She was watching the events she put in motion unfold. Pleased to see things moving along smoothly, she stood up and smirked.

"**It is time to send the hounds out. I'm tired of helping the World when it's champions are so barbaric. A punishment will not be enough. I will take back my power, and never share it again. To darkness with the World and all it's ingrates." **After speaking, reality shifted around her, switching into a dark abyss.

Floating in the abyss, she summoned a Keyblade. But this was a keyblade above all others, for it was a weapon above all others. It was the Omega-Blade, the weapon that the keyblade was mimicked after. It was incoperal, seeming to not have any solid form. It was made of cords of light and darkness, vaguely twisted and interweaving into the shape of a blade. At the handle it seemed to wrapped itself about her hand, securing itself to her rather than her simply holding it. She thrust it forward into the nothingness, and turned it. A large clunk sound resounded out into the abyss, and five doors appeared. They were opulent and a pinkish red with jewels adorning the frame. They opened and light shone through. Only one had an orb of red light come out of it, while the others were opened but nothing came forth.

"**My child of fire, spawn of blaze. Come forth at my will, and speak my true name" **the femine eternal spoke.

The orb of red light started to morph in shape, growing in size and heat before it settled on a humanoid form. Where once was an orb of red light now stood of man of 7 feet. His body was hulking and massive, layered with muscles that shone like stainless steel in the darkness. The color of his skin was bronze, and his hair was a deep amber. His chiseled face was stern and jaw set, and his eyes swirled with fire within them. He Placed a curled fist over where his heart would be, and bowed his head slightly.

"**Mistress of day, Mistress of night, your proud servant gives you his might. Tell me what you will, Goddess of Hearts" **he spoke, in an unexpectedly refined tone given his herculean frame of body.

"**No no my darling, I go by Kingdom Hearts in this time. Odd I know, but a logical leap given the people who came up with it" **the now identified Goddess of Hearts purred.

"**My deepest apologies, Kingdom Hearts" **the being of fire being spoke, distress palpable in his voice.

"**Shush my darling, no insult is found" **the Goddess of Hearts cooed. "**Now to business. Someone has abused my gift once again. This time in such a gross manner that I have decided to rip all of my power away from him, and the residual power lingering on the one he used it on" **she informed.

The air around the blazing man burst into flames, and the heat was akin to a galaxy's worth of suns. Anger clearly on his features, he growled. "**Pardon my over step, but when will you stop suffering these ungrateful fools. I can not stand these offenses." **he said.

"**You will stand all that I say you will stand, child of fire" **she responded, and with a look the flames instantly snuffed out of existence.

"**I forget myself," **the man spoke, somehow getting on his knees and bowing while floating in nothingness.

"**Rise darling. I know of all my children you are the most passionate. Take heart, that indeed this will be the last time. I want you to recover my gift, and bring it back to me. Do whatever you need to do in order to accomplish this. Your Queen demands your utmost effort on this matter. Do you accept? Or should I assign one of your siblings instead?"** she finished, an edge of mocking in her tone at hinting at his siblings.

The man looked at her with a toothy grin, standing fully to meet her eyes. "**Your will be done, Kingdom Hearts" **

The Queen gave him a smirk and nodded her head once. "**You will know who it is if you follow the scent of my power. Do not underestimate him, he is strong, and he is the chosen champion of the World. Now go, and do not fail me, ****Dhuma-ketu."**

At her dismissal Dhuma-ketu blinked out of existence in a flash of smoke. The Queen looked at the other four doors, and pondered whether or not to just summon his siblings after all and go for the over kill.

"**No, it will be much more entertaining like this, and even if Sora manages to beat my child of fire, he is the weakest of the 6 siblings. It will take awhile before Dhuma-ketu finds Sora, so I might as well kick back and enjoy the show."**

With a wave of her hand, the Queen created a seventy-two inch screen and tilted back sitting in an instantly conjured chair.

"**Good luck, my adorable child of dust. Will the light conquer the darkness, or will the darkness swallow him? Either way I win. It's just a matter of when and where."**

* * *

Aqua was very worried. She didn't overhear what Sora and Kairi talked about but saw when Kairi walked away and that Sora was on his knees sobbing like a child all alone. Then the wind picked up. The ocean churned and Sora stood up seemingly talking to Kairi somehow over the chaos if the expression of fear on her face was anything to go by.

As the gummy ship took off and the ramp closed fully Aqua started making her way to Sora. Xion was close behind, only having waited until Kairi left to approach Sora anyway. As they got closer they felt a weight gradually falling on their shoulders, eventually reaching the point where it was difficult to walk forward. Aqua called out to Sora, but he didn't make any indication that he heard her. As they got within arms length their lungs were being squished, making it hard to breathe. Aqua reached out to grab Sora's hand. Just as she thought she would lose consciousness, her hand slipped into his and she lunged forward knocking him over while Xion hurled herself off to the side.

When Aqua held Sora's hand, the elements abruptly calmed. This meant that all the straining and extra muscles Aqua and Xion were using to force their way through the storm had suddenly lost their resistance, and were overkill for the now serene environment. This caused them to jump forward from all the excess force, and Aqua who was facing Sora landed on him. Xion wasn't too far away but on her stomach to the side.

"I'm sorry Sora, I didn't think the storm would just vanish like that" Aqua said, still disoriented and gasping to refill her depleted air supply.

"Aqua...she left me. I gave her my soul, and she didn't want it. She...she called off the engagement" Sora said, now emotionally spent and staring into her eyes with red and puffy ones.

Aqua felt her heart churn. Between Sora saving her from the realm of darkness, sharing an accidental first kiss, swearing on her Keyblade for him, getting to see Mickey get a beat down and now sharing a paopu fruit with him, all she wanted was for Sora to feel the same way about her that she felt about him. So she could not fathom how someone could have him all to themselves, and just toss him away. So he had a little darkness, nobody was completely light anyway. Was miss goody goody Kairi under the illusion that giving in to the darkness cheapens a person? Aqua felt a personal offense to this. But a small part of her, the woman in her, was happy for this development. It meant she could be more aggressive in exploring things with Sora. Given the proper timing of course.

"Sora, you are an amazing man that anybody would be more than lucky to be able to call their own. You are a hero, you are the strongest in every land, and you radiate love and compassion. Kairi is obviously not thinking straight if she is willing to let you go" Aqua tried to console. She didn't want to indirectly support him and Kairi, but ultimately her heart's desire was to see Sora happy. Even if it wasn't with her.

*Sniff* "No she's right, I-I'm a mess. I always believed darkness didn't devalue a person, it was just a part of them, or a mistake they made. People are allowed to be different and make mistakes. But she never thought that way. She always had snide, judgmental comments for those kind of people, even for Riku. Even me,"*Sniff*"the moment I get tainted, even if it was for her, she just throws the whole Sora away." He said. His third person reference made Xion chuckle where she sat, and Aqua spoke again.

"But, you know better right? You know that those tainted by darkness, aren't necessarily evil. It's just like you said, we are different. So you're better than her. And you're better than anyone else tainted by darkness."

"Well, light is not all that either. Plus, I'm not better than you." Sora corrected.

"Yeah, I've seen that light can make people do the same thing darkness will, in excess" she said, thinking of her late Master. "But me? I'm the least of everyone. Ten years in darkness, and when you all finally came for me I attacked you. I was broken, and now I am damaged…"

"That's not how it is! Aqua, I think you are the strongest out of all of us! You spent ten in the realm of darkness. The actual realm where Darkness itself lives. And for better or worse you held out for as long as humanly possible. The fact that you were there at all when we arrived, and not just a heartless husk, proves you are the strongest. Everyone else who succumbs to darkness loses their heart becoming a heartless and a nobody. But your will kept you, even if you were hopeless. You may not have believed you were ever getting out, but that's not the measure of strength. The measure of strength is to know that it is hopeless, and carry on regardless. Aqua, you carried on. You are not broken, or damaged. You are the most amazing person I know" Sora said, having sit them both up and put her hands in his.

Aqua had lost her fight against her emotions half way through Sora's little speech. She cried freely and dug her head into Sora's chest. He held her close and let her get it all out.

"Y-you don't thi-think I'm broken? I-I'm not d-da-damaged?" Aqua spoke brokenly.

"Aqua, you are the most amazing woman I know. I am honored to have you as my friend. And I will defend you from anyone who would dare say otherwise. You are so beautiful and kind, and mature, you're really the best" Sora said, smiling in that wholesome sunlight smile.

Aqua cried and blushed at his freely given compliments. "A-am I the best kisser as well?" She asked, her voice muffled by Sora's shirt and jacket but he heard her well enough.

"Wh-w-what?" Sora stuttered out.

On an emotional high and borderline catharsis, Aqua went for broke and pushed Sora down onto the sand, pressing her lips against his own. He was shocked at her sudden boldness, but that feeling of elated bliss from their first kiss returned tenfold and he gingerly reciprocated the kiss. They stayed like that for a few moments before remembering they had an audience. Aqua reluctantly rolled off of Sora and sat up to look at Xion, who was grinning like a kid in a candy store.

"Wow Sora, you sure work fast. Tell me, does it taste like water, or do they actually have any flavor?" Xion asked.

Aqua's face turned red, and Sora blushed mildly, much to Xion's delight.

"Well, if you must know, they taste like a sweet blueberry" Sora said.

Xion effectively lost her shit and laughed ceaselessly, while Aqua just stopped working, overheated and fell over holding her face in embarrassment. Sora just smiled and wondered if things weren't so bad after all.

After about half an hour of sitting around awkwardly, Xion decided she needed to use the bathroom and went off on her own leaving Sora and Aqua by themselves.

As soon as Xion was out of earshot, Aqua spoke up.

"Listen, I-I'm sorry for attacking you like that. It's just, no one has ever made me feel that way you do. You are so kind and caring. You saved me from the hell that was the realm of darkness after all. I feel like you were the only one who cared for me."

"Well, I admit you're pretty special to me as well. After getting you out of there, I felt a bond with you form. But I didn't do it all alone. There were people working to get you out the whole time you know" Sora said, not wanting to take all the credit for himself.

"But don't you see? You are the one that stands out. Never mind that Riku and Mickey were just too weak to get the job done, but there were people who knew about me for years, especially Mickey, and just sat on it. Sora, from the moment you found out about me, you immediately started working on being able to save me. And even when you weren't ready, you came in head first to save everyone involved. You are a man of action. You are a true hero. You mean everything to me because without you, I would have nothing" She said, her heart racing at her confession.

Sora took a moment to take it all in. "I could not stand the fact that Mickey knew you were in there and did nothing. He just shoved it all onto my plate as if he couldn't be bothered. He could have gotten you at any time, especially when he was travelling with Riku in cloaks that literally null the effect of darkness! Sigh" Sora let out a breath, looking powerfully into Aqua's vulnerable eyes. He then kissed her forehead.

"You mean alot to me. You are beautiful inside with your kindness, and outside with your smoking body. But Kairi has been the focus of my life, the driving force for most of my adventures. I can't forget her so soon. I wouldn't want you to be a rebound or something, because you deserve better than that. If you can just wait for...me…" Sora froze, eyes wide. It was happening. He was doing it again. He was making someone wait for him.

Aqua looked at him and noticed he was alarmed. "Sora, what's wrong?"

"No. You don't have to wait for me. I'm done asking people to stop their lives for me. Aqua, I don't know if I can love you like I think you deserve. There are loose ends I still need to tie. There are other people with whom I share love, and share bonds with. My love will not be perfect, and it will be hard at times to stick by my side. And I'm still not over Kairi, that jerk. But...if you are willing to deal with all of that, and whatever may come, I would love to have you by my side. As my light" Sora said, putting on his best and brightest smile.

Aqua felt the breath leave her body. Sora, her God, deemed her worthy of being in his presence. This was better than anything she could have hoped for. She would have been fine if he just kept her around out of pity. But to learn he thinks so highly of her elated her heart, and to hear there was a special place in his heart for her made her soul leap with joy. She heard what he was saying, that it wouldn't be perfect. But she wasn't perfect, and perfect wasn't what she wanted. She just wanted him, however he was and as he was.

"Sora" she started," I would love nothing more than to be yours. I accept you as you are, and I will always support you. I know things are crazy right now, but I meant every word I have said to you. I am yours as long as you want me."

Sora hugged her tightly, standing up and bringing her along. He kissed her again, the pain from losing Kairi seemed to dull a little when he focused on Aqua and pretended that Kairi didn't exist. So that's what he would do. He would figure out this darkness in him, and follow his heart across the stars. With Aqua by his side, he knew everything would be alright.

"And by the way Aqua, as for your question earlier. You are definitely a better kisser than Kairi." Aqua giggled as they spent time kissing and holding each other close.

* * *

Somewhere in the far distance, a famous ninja sneezed violently, dropping her shuriken and assorted tools of assassination on the floor.

"GODDAMNIT!"

* * *

When Xion had left Sora and Aqua, she used the bathroom, washed her face and went out in search for Roxas and Lea. She found them standing under a waterfall, naked and apparently taking a bath. She decided she could use a bath herself and striped to join them.

"Hey guys. What's up?" Xion said as she walked under the waterfall placing herself between Roxas and Lea.

"Oh hey Xion, we were just washing up for the day" Roxas said.

"Yeah, we figured relaxing on this island has been nice and all, but we need to plan for what comes next. I want to see what's out there now that it's on my terms" Lea said, washing off his balls while looking right at Xion.

"That makes sense, we can't just live here like bums the rest of our lives after all" Xion agreed, rubbing herself down vigorously.

"Well don't talk like you have to worry about getting old ha ha. Your body is artificial remember? Your hearts can occupy it forever as long as it doesn't get overly damaged. I on the other hand am actual flesh and bone. I'll get old and fall apart before ya know it" Lea said.

"Well, we could always get you an artificial body" Roxas said, leaning against the rockface. "Then we could get ice cream forever!"

"Sounds like a plan" Xion said, pressing herself backside first into Roxas.

"You sound like a plan" Roxas growled back, his manhood growing stiff against Xion's wonderous back side.

Just at this moment, Ventus rounded the corner and saw the scene of three naked friends with at least two of them looking like they were about to have sex.

"Jesus guys what the fuck is going on here?!" Ventus shouted

"Huh? Oh hey Ven, what's up man!" Lea greeted.

"What's up? What's up!? What's up is you three are all naked and humping each other!" Ventus said, red as a tomato.

"Of course we are naked, we are taking a bath. And hey, I wouldn't touch Xion she's Roxas' girl . I already know both of them could kick my ass in ten languages so haha that's all them" Lea said.

"But why are you taking a bath together! That's indecent. And Damn it Roxas stop humping Xion I'm standing right here!" Ventus shouted, going crazy at the impropriety happening around him.

"Dude what's your deal stop being such a spaz. So what if we take baths together, we did everything together back in the organization. This isn't anything to freak out about. And if I want to fuck my girl-" Roxas was interrupted by a satisfied grunt as he sunk into Xion "then I'll do just that."

"H-hey, Roxas he l-looks just like you. Maybe he should join. I don't think I-I could handle two Roxas'" Xion said between her panting, smiling at the thought of two Roxas' rocking her body.

"No! This is so wrong!" Ventus said as he used aero magic to enhance his jump and flew away in a great leap.

"His loss" Lea said.

"Axel, you know I wouldn't be mad if you mad love to Xion. She said she wanted to plenty of times already, and you're both my friends so I wouldn't m-mind" Roxas offered Lea.

"No, it's fine. There isn't anything wrong with either of you it's just, my heart wouldn't be in it ya know? I think I'm in love with someone actually…" Lea said, as the water they were under made each of Roxas' thrust slap loudly against Xion.

"Whaaaat the great lone wolf Axel, puppy eyed for someone? Ha ha!" Roxas' laughed, slamming even harder into Xion causing her to cry out in pleasure.

"D-don't mind Rox-is!, who is the lucky per-pur-person?" Xion managed to get out.

"I don't know, I really shouldn't feel this way about her. But I've recently spent so much time with her, I guess it sort of just happened. And we shared so many tender moments, there's no way to get her out of my head" Lea said, playing with Xion's hair as it flailed about.

"Whoa! Kairi dude!?" Roxas said, his body visibly tensing up.

"It h-hah-has to be Kairi!" Xion said, gritting her teeth due to intensity of the duos climax.

"Gosh guys, I guess the cats out of the bag haha" Lea said, stepping out of the waterfall. "I'm gonna go on ahead. Why don't you two actually get clean. I'll be on the shore waiting to head out. Twilight Town has some good eats."

With that, Lea walked off, using fire magic to dry himself causing steam to rise off of his skin.

"Man" Xion said, "I wish Lea would join us sometime"

Roxas chuckled. "Me too. He has killer abs"

* * *

Riku and Kairi drove on in the gummy ship in silence. Kairi was still very upset, and was dealing with her lingering feelings for Sora. Riku didn't know what to say. He was never good with the sensitive topics like love or feelings in general. But what he was good at was protecting people, and after Sora's threat to Kairi he wasn't too keen on leaving Kairi all by herself.

"Sora is very powerful Kairi" Riku said.

"I know that. So what?" Kairi responded.

"You told me he said that you would regret doing what you did, that sounds like a clear threat. A threat from the strongest person currently alive" Riku said, hoping Kairi would catch his meaning.

"He was just upset. I hurt him so bad, but he would never go out of his way to hurt us" Kairi stated firmly. "Sora is still kind and wouldn't hurt a heartless if he could help it."

"Just like he wouldn't hurt Mickey?" Riku asked.

"You know the King got into it with him too" Kairi said, almost sounding like she was defending Sora's actions.

"Or how he would never grip your wrist so hard it sprains? Or how he would never look at you with so much hate the entire world responds to his rage? Or how he would never give in to the darkness?" Riku pressed, leaving no room for interpretation on what he thought of what Kairi said.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Sora is not himself" she said, sighing. "I just don't get what changed him so much…"

"When people give in to the darkness they just change. It happened to Terra, it happened to Aqua and me, and know it's happened to Sora. You are a light in these dark and unsure times Kairi. Untainted by the darkness. I will protect that light, so you can spread it everywhere you go. I'll protect you, even from Sora" Riku finished, his voice full of conviction.

Kairi thought about the truth, about how she had indeed gave in to the darkness, and was ready to succumb. Sora was the one that saved her, and it ate at her soul that she could not do the same for him. Yen Sid's warning rang loud and clear in her mind, and the fear she felt for Sora was stronger than any love she had for him. She was pathetic, and here Riku was offering his life just to help her out without knowing the truth. 'I'm the lowest of the low' she thought to herself. Then she spoke.

"Well thank you for sticking by my side. But I'm pretty strong too you know! We should have a proper spar when we land. Speaking of which, we should head to Radiant Garden and meet with Leon and the gang. They are sure to know where we can start helping out at."

"Sure thing Kairi, and don't feel too bad when I beat you. I am a proper keyblade master after all haha" Riku said.

"Oh you are so going to get it mister!" Kairi said.

The two continued on through Space, in a slightly better mood than when they started.

* * *

Post-Aurthor's note: Before you all think Sora has gotten over Kairi, well, he hasn't. He has a perfectly unhealthy plan for dealing with the break up, one that will not play well with the ever growing darkness within.


	6. The Flames Of Change

I hate doing build up and fillers, which is what a lot of these past chapters have been. But finally a real fight this chapter, and something that forces the story to move on. R&R, as I am a hardcore Kingdom Hearts fan and wouldn't mind critisism or general discussion. TBH I have a few chapters written up already, thus the rapid updates, but I'll try to keep it more on a schedule of weekly after this one. Enjoy!

* * *

Sora and Aqua had enjoyed the rest of their morning together, going swimming and talking it away. Around noon, Ventus found them and addressed Aqua.

"Aqua! Hey!" Ventus said, excited to see his best friend.

Aqua looked up from her seat next to Sora on the sand, and smiled at seeing her sweet little brother.

"Ven! It's so good to see you. Where have you been?" she asked.

"Well I went looking for Terra like I said I would, but didn't find him anywhere. I guess he must be off world." Ventus said with a slight frown.

"If that's the case, we won't find him until he wants to be found" Aqua said. She noticed Ventus starting to tear up and got up to hug him. "Hey it's okay. This isn't like before, okay? We can see each other anytime, we won't end up like before" Aqua reassured him.

"Won't we though? This is how things start. A disagreement, he leaves, I go after him…" Ventus started.

"Then don't go after him. Look we are all adults now, despite our appearance. We need to be mature, and part of being mature is not trying to decide what others should do. If he wants to run off because of one argument, let him. Deep down I know he is still Terra, we will see him again." Aqua said.

Ventus sighed in acceptance. "Okay, okay. So, where is everyone? I mean I know where Roxas and his posse are but...I wish I didn't" Ventus groaned.

"You didn't hear?" Sora spoke for the first time.

"Hear what?" Ventus asked.

"Well, I kind of went crazy when I went to go get checked out by Yen Sid. Me and Mickley got into a fight, and Kairi and I aren't engaged anymore…Donald and Goofy are back home, and we shouldn't expect to see anyone in the near future, at least not around me." Sora said, shame creased in every word.

"Whoa dude, that's heavy. Are...are you okay? I can feel it...since I was in your heart for so long, when I am close to you and I focus on it, I can feel your emotions. There is so much grief." Ventus said.

"It's okay Ventus, I will figure myself out and be just fine again. As a matter of fact, I was planning on travelling the worlds, making sure everything stays in order. Xehanort might be finally dealt with, but who knows what other baddies are lurking in the shadow" Sora said, filled with optimism.

"Well, I was kind of hoping to just stay on the islands. This is where I'm from, this is where Xehanort found me. So I want to stay here, and try to figure out just where I come from and who were my parents." Ventus said.

"Wow Ven, I didn't know it meant that much to you" Aqua said, amazed at Ventus' plan.

"I figure I can live here and do research in Twilight Town to avoid freaking people out if Roxas is there." Ventus said.

"Good thinking Ventus, otherwise people might start up those seven wonders of Twilight Town again haha" Sora said, remembering the waterfall in particular.

"What about you Aqua?" Ventus asked.

He was hopeful she would stay with him, but he knew his big sis was up to something with Sora. He could feel the warmth Sora felt everytime he looked at her, though there was also a heavy feeling Ventus couldn't quite place.

"Well, as a fellow keyblade master, it is also my duty to protect the realms. I was thinking of just joining Sora for a while, seeing how everything is doing" Aqua said, trying not to sound too happy about it.

"Riiiiight" Ventus said, smiling knowingly at her. "Well, That's fine. I will be here, so don't ever hesitate to visit okay!" Ventus said, hugging her tightly.

She blushed at the knowing smile Ventus gave her, but only slightly. She nodded her head and decided she would go prepare a travel bag so when it was time to leave she would be ready. "Well, I'm gonna go pack. Sora, no rush, I just want to be ready when you are. See you in a bit" She said. She gave Sora a wave and Ventus a kiss on the forehead, then headed to the treehouse to pack her few belongings.

Sora and Ventus watched her go, Sora still seated on the sand and Ventus standing with his hands on his hips. Ventus suddenly turned around and looked at Sora, who raised an eyebrow.

"What's up?" Sora said.

"You know what's up, you've got a thing for Aqua. And apparently, she has a thing for you too" Ventus accused, pointing a finger at Sora.

Sora looked on nervously before shaking his head. "So what, you should be glad Aqua is happy. She has had it rough" he said.

"I am glad she's happy. And she has had it rough, which is why I need to tell you to watch it. I won't stand for Aqua being some rebound because of Kairi. I don't care who you think you are, I am strong in my own right and I'll give you a beat down if you play with Aqua's heart. It's better to break it off before roots take hold if you know you aren't serious" Ventus said in a strong tone.

"Look, I can appreciate you are protective of Aqua. But I am too, I won't let anything bad happen to her, and I can't say that I love her because it's too soon. But she knows this, and I know that I want to be close to her at the very least." Sora said, trying to show he wasn't trying to play Ventus' sister figure.

"I'll admit it's weird having you so close to her, I always thought it would be Terra, and that we could have a happy family. But I'm okay with it, you are a good guy. I don't know what exactly happened since I wasn't there, but I know that you are good. I just need Aqua to be okay. Terra is already gone and who knows where he is. Aqua is all I have left and if she breaks cause of this, I don't know what I'll do…" Ventus said. He was being honest with Sora, and Sora really appreciated it.

"I will love Aqua with all I have. I can't promise that everything will be perfect, but I won't hurt her if I can help it" Sora said, trying to be completely honest as well.

"I know Sora. Please at least keep her safe. I'm gonna go tease her a bit as a little brother should, I'll see ya around buddy" Ventus said, offering Sora his hand which Sora shook firmly.

With that, Ventus walked off to the treehouse, a mischievous grin on his face. Sora shook his head with a chuckle at Ventus' silliness. Seeing that he was alone, Sora decided to take a stroll around the island and enjoy it one last time before he headed out.

* * *

"Looks like vacation time is over, but I can take it in one last time" He said to himself.

The tall palm trees shook slightly under the warm breeze. The smell of sea water and greenery filled Sora's nostrils and he loved every second of it. He picked up a ripe coconut that had fallen to the ground, and cracked it open with his hands. He leisurely drank the milk and snacked on its flesh as he strolled along. He found his old cave, where the drawings of his youth danced around him as memories poured in. He recalled all the misadventures and trouble him and Riku got in. All the times he would show off for Kairi. Those were such great times that seemed like they would never end.

'Where did I go wrong, how did I lose it all…' he thought sadly to himself.

He came upon the drawing of him and Kairi sharing a paopu fruit. At first he was filled with nostalgia as he placed his hands on the image. He remembered when he drew his fruit first, and then the sweetness of finding that Kairi had drawn one from her to him. They are just weird looking fruit, but at the time they acted as symbols of their affection. Those pleasant thoughts started to sour as his mind drew him to his most recent interaction with Kairi. A snarl marred his face and his hands started to curl, digging into the stone they laid on by the force he was using. The cave seemed to grow a little darker and he was almost cloaked in it. He felt the hate in his heart grow and dragged his fingers along the stone, gouging the drawing over his and Kairi's faces. He stood and turned from it, not wanting to look at it a second more. He began to calm down and the cave brightened slightly. He noticed he was standing in front of that mysterious door that had always been in the cave. He had since learned this was actually the door to this world's heart.

"Huh. As a matter of fact, I don't remember ever locking this world's heart after it was brought back from the darkness. Might be a useful thing to do, since I'll be gone for a while" He thought aloud.

Summoning his Keyblade, he gathered light at the tip, and locked the door leading to the heart of his home world. With an audible click, Sora nodded in satisfaction.

"Actually, why did I ever stop locking the heart of worlds? That would make it impossible for darkness to reach it. That would keep it safe long after I left it. Huh. I'm so freaking forgetful, I should go back to Arendel and the Monsters world and all the other places I visited! I'm such an idiot!" Sora complained to himself.

As Sora was lamenting his poor life choices, a being of grand stature with fire in its eyes stopped flying through space. Dhuma-ketu had been searching for his mothers lost power, and had just picked up a whiff of the darkness that makes up half of the Power of Waking. He smiled and opened a portal of Naught to travel to the origin of the scent, as it was close enough to know exactly where it was at. He would kill first, and ask no questions later.

Sora had just made it out of the cave and back onto the sand when a portal opened in front of him. This portal was unlike any he had ever seen before. It was grey and blue and seemed to shine within. Sora let himself get close to inspect it, his nose just an inch from touching it. All of a sudden, a massive hand ripped through the portal and drove into Sora's face, driving him back and into the mountain side behind him. The large hand was attached to a large hulking being and he held Sora firmly in place, digging him deeper into the cliff side. Sora felt heat gathering at the center on his forehead and an explosion occurred in the non-existent space between the being's palm and Sora's face.

The part of the mountain Sora was being pressed into exploded outward, making the wallfall that went down it become a river of untamed water. Sora had no space to go back, and so took the full brunt of the explosion right on his skull and rebounded against the stone behind him rocketing forward. Needless to say, he had quite the headache.

"**I'm surprised that didn't separate your soul from your body meat bag" **Dhuma-ketu said, impressed a child of dust could withstand what he had just dished out.

Sora groaned painfully and forced himself up from the sand he found himself on. His head felt as if someone poured molten iron all over it and he was pissed. Very pissed. Without a word Sora summoned his keyblade and dived forward with the intent to skewer this large man. Scoffing, Dhuma-ketu conjures a sword in his hand of white fire and meets Sora's blade. Sora has to brace every bone muscle and organ in his body with magic just to hold the block, so strong was this creatures swing.

"W-who the hell are you!?" Sora yelled at it.

"**I am Dhuma-keta, Child of Fire and first born of Agni. I have come to reclaim what you keep from my Queen" **Dhuma-ketu spoke to Sora, with a voice trembling with power.

"What! I'm not keeping anything from anyone! I just have me myself and I, and not one of those people like you very much right now. So I'm gonna pound your face until this headache goes away!" Sora yelled.

"**Foolish child of dust, my heat will melt you into nothing!"** Dhuma-ketu yelled back. Thus,Sora began his desperate fight against the Child of fire.

Dhuma-ketu's cheeks puffed up and from him mouth blew out a searing stream of boiling steam. Sora ducked it and turned his guard into a parry, gaining the leverage to slice into the beast of a man's chest with his keyblade. Dhuma-ketu back stepped Sora's swing, and turned into a wide side swipe. Sora jumped back but Dhuma-keti turned once more for another wide side swipe, this time sending a wave of white fire from his blade towards Sora.

Sora encased his keyblade in ice and met the arc of flame with a diagonal slash, splitting it harmlessly to either side of him. Dhuma-ketu began swiping at the air wildly, sending wave after wave of fire towards Sora.

"Ice!" Sora called out, channeling ice magic into the air around him forming a dome of it.

The fire crashed into the dome as if it were solid, rocking the dome and chipping away at the dome wave after wave. Dhuma-ketu took a step forward with each swing of his sword until he was right in front of the now cracked and sweating dome, and raised his sword high and gave a mighty swing downwards. The dome shattered upon the impact of the flaming sword but Sora was not inside. Instead Dhuma-ketu was greeted to a hole in the sand. He looked into the hole ready to blow fire into it to flush Sora out when the sand rose rapidly and formed spikes of glass, aimed right between his eyes. Dhuma-ketu quickly rolled out of the way. He saw the glass sand spikes follow him like a trail leading to his current position so he started to take hopping steps around the shore. Seeing there was more glass spikes than sand at this point Dhuma-ketu leapt into the air and somersaulted until he was a blur of rotating fire, slamming into the shore and shattering all the glass.

"**Is this your way blasphemer?! To hide and attack from the shadows! Face me as a man, child of dust!" **Dhuma-ketu taunted, wanting to flush Sora out so he could end this already.

Sora was still under the sand, and at his opponents taunt grew annoyed, easily insulted into action. He gathered a large amount of aero magic and swirled it around his hand, using it as a drill to excavate his way to the surface.

"Haven't you ever heard of a sneak attack!" Sora yelled, bursting out the sand 10 feet away from Dhuma-ketu. He dashed forward while letting his hand drag along the ground that was littered with the shattered glass, collecting shards into the vortex surrounding his hand. Once he was close, he thrusted his his hand like a spear, intending to use the cyclone of razor sharp glass to lance right through Dhuma-ketu.

Dhuma-ketu sidestepped the thrust while grabbing the offending arm at the wrist, flipping Sora over him and into the sand below. He landed heavily on his knee driving it into Sora's back, holding Sora down by the base of his neck with his right hand.

"**What fool announces a surprise assault? You're like an infant! It'd be hilarious if it wasn't so pathetic." **Dhuma-ketu goaded.

Sora didn't even have to optimism to struggle. Dhuma-ketu was so overwhelmingly strong there was nothing he could do, and he was being dug into the glass filled ground. But he was a master improviser. So Sora channeled energy into his keyblade that he still held in a vice-grip. He used the Magical Staff transformation to morph his keyblade into a magical powerhouse, and willed the sand below him to explode up like a geyser. Losing the ground beneath his feet, Dhuma-Ketu was thrown up in the air along with Sora.

"Stopza!" Sora cried out, casting an immensely strong stop spell in the air, freezing the tons of sand and Dhuma-Ketu. Sora floated out of the chaos and began turning the countless gallons of frozen sand into glass, creating a fortress of jagged death around Dhuma-Ketu. Since the cast of the spell Dhuma-Ketu had been heating up the air around him, willing time itself to burn away to free himself of the spells effects. Just as he was almost free and started wiggling his fingers, Sora gave a loud shout.

"Jaws of Sand!"

As Sora spoke that spell the glass around Dhuma-Ketu burst towards him, piercing every cell of his massive body. Dhuma-Ketu had not felt such pain since his birth, and he cried out in agony falling into the ground below.

"Wow that looked like it really hurt. You gave me a reeeeal good scream too, like a wailing baby! HAHA" Sora taunted Dhuma-Ketu.

Dhuma-Ketu gingerly got up, completely covered in blood stained glass. There was no part of him that was visible under all the glass. Suddenly, he started laughing, a gurgling sound coming from his throat. He clenched his hands digging the glass deep into his fists.

"**No one save Mother has ever caused me to bleed. You, Child of Dust, have given me a good battle so far. I shall reward your competence, by dispelling your ignorance. You mean to resist, but just do not know how futile it is yet. This is my gift to you" **Dhuma-Ketu said in a mirth filled voice.

Dhuma-ketu started rubbing his hands together, grinding the glass there and generating friction. He sped up and his hands began to smoke and the glass that coated his upper arms began to melt from the heat. After about three seconds His entire body was smoking and all the glass had melted off, pooling onto the sandy floor he stood on.

"**Come, I will set you free!"** Dhuma-Ketu declared, and dashed at Sora with sonic speed.

"Whoa!" Sora yelled, and it was all he could get out before a fist the size of a watermelon and as hot as an open flame crashed into his face.

Then it slammed into his stomach, then his throat, then his left thigh, and this fist proceeded to become very acquainted with Sora's entire body. Sora couldn't stop a single one of them, and the blunt force ensured that he could not get numb to the searing heat. Dhuma-Ketu unleashed a torrent of fists and burns. After 50 strikes, Dhuma-Keta gave a mighty uppercut that sent Sora into the sky, and he followed Sora and gave a rib shattering axe kick sending Sora back to the ground like a missile. Dhuma-Ketu started gathering fire magic into his right palm while using heat to keep him floating in the air about 20 feet up from where Sora lay seemingly unconscious.

"**This is the end for you false-brother! After I draw out the darkness from you, I will find your Kairi and rip the light out through her eye sockets! Now return to the Cycle!" **Dhuma-Ketu bellowed, thrusting his arm forward and shooting a laser of fire directly at Sora.

Sora couldn't move any part of him. He was in so much pain he couldn't focus any magic either. But hearing that after he was done with him, Dhuma-Ketu was going to kill Kairi for whatever power he was trying to collect, forced a deep rage to bubble up in Sora. The weight that was within him rose up, and he let it take over.

"nnnNNNNNN**NNNOOOOOOOOOO!"** Sora exclaimed, the sheer force of his scream fighting against the laser and dispelling it.

"**I-impossible! That had the force and heat of a supernova behind it!" **Dhuma-Keta said to himself. He looked down as the smoke started to clear away, and smirked at what he saw.

Sora stood, but he was covered in shadow. He still wore everything the same, it was just heavily tinted black, and shadows danced in wisps around his skin. His eyes were a sickly yellow and his nails were talons ready to tear something apart with ease.

"**The bastard child shows his true colors. You disgusting vermin. Giving in to the darkness is exactly why Mother has to keep bailing your kind out when you work yourselves into a corner" **Dhuma-Keta spoke in disgust despite his smirk.

Sora said nothing. He simply lunged at Dhuma-Ketu at supersonic speeds. The two were locked in mortal combat, exchanging crippling blows with Sora throwing in his claw to the mix. They ravaged the side of the Island they were on, which happened to be the exact opposite side everyone else was on. The cliff side was chipped and gouged, the sand was thrown about in tons worth of the stuff, the water was tinted red with the blood as it spilled. Sora managed to catch Dhuma-Ketu through his guard due to some unorthodox movements. Sora contorted his body into a "U" shape and thrust his fist in a 67 degree angle. This happened to be just the sweet spot to reach Dhuma-Ketu's throat and Sora opened his hand and clamped down on it talons-first, digging four inches into his thick muscular neck. Dhuma-Ketu gagged and felt Sora block his air way from within his windpipe with his elongated nails, which shredded his neck in the process.

Sora pulled hard, ripping out his throat and followed it up with a kick into his exposed hypopharynx. Continuing his brutality, Sora repeatedly rammed his hands like spears into Dhuma-Ketu, cutting through cords of muscle and digging into bone. Dhuma-Ketu was alarmed and at a loss of how to escape this deadly situation. Doing the only thing he could do, he tapped into his own Heart and forced the life force within him to physically manifest into the hottest fire he had ever wielded, and shoot it out of his mouth right in Sora's face. Or at least, he would have if there wasn't a giant hole in his esophagus. As things were, the fire rushed from his chest and spilled violently out of his throat. Sora had just enough time to dodge the impossible fire before it rushed onto the sand, setting it on fire instantly. So much was it that it sprung forth as a river and touched the entire shore. The greenery, the stone, even the water simply caught on fire. This fire did not obey established laws of physics. The sand and stone did not melt, the water did not steam and the trees did not blacken. Everything was literally burned into nothingness.

Dhuma-Ketu fell, laying in the flames. Even he was not immune to these awesome flames. As he burned away his last words were for his mother.

"**Mother, mother, I come home to the cycle. I am sorry I have failed you. Forgive me as my heart returns to you. Mother!" **He cried, before he lost consciousness and faded into death.

Sora stood high on the cliff face now, and saw that the fires were not stopping. The shadows receded from Sora's form as thoughts of Aqua and the others still on the island came to his mind.

"I have to get everyone out!" He thought frantically, running on the mountain to cross to the other side where the treehouse was.

* * *

Aqua slung her bag over her shoulder and was heading out of the treehouse. Ventus had just left her alone, that adorable twerp with all his teasing. He decided to go to Twilight Town and explore it. Aqua bid him farewell, and off he went. Aqua now stood on the shore, wondering what her life would look like now that her and Sora were going to explore the worlds. She did not expect anything from him, she was just content that he let her be at his side and she would make sure she was useful. To her Sora was the most important person alive, he was the strongest and most kind. There wasn't anything she would not do for him, all he had to do was ask.

Aqua was shaken out of her thoughts by a rumbling and a sharp spike of magic. The island shook and she sensed a large amount of magic gathered not far from her. She wondered what it might be, and she debated whether or not she should go check it out. She figured it might just be Xion and her friends messing around, but was alarmed when she felt darkness flood her senses. It was the heaviest darkness she had ever felt, and she was shocked since she spent ten years in the realm of darkness yet still had never felt something so oppressive. She started making her way towards where she felt it coming from, but within a few moments it was gone, and the air suddenly got much warmer and dry.

Aqua was very confused at the rapid changes going on around her, and was even more so when she saw Sora falling from the sky above her calling out her name.

"Aqua! We need to get out of here! No time to explain!" Sora said, covered in blood and burns.

Sora picked her up bridal style and willed the air around them to lift them up and take them over the ocean. They flew through the sky and toward Twilight Town, though it was about fifteen minutes away still. Aqua didn't mind the rushed nature of her situation much while in Sora's arms and pressed firmly against his chest. She casually channeled a cure spell and had it crawl along Sora's skin, healing his injuries. He noticed he was feeling better and looked down at Aqua with an appreciative smile.

"Thanks for the pick me up" Sora said.

"Well you're the one that actually picked me up" Aqua responded.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It's a long story, but we weren't safe on the island" He said.

"What happened" She said, rubbing his neck gently.

"Well, apparently some giant fire guy thought I had something of his mothers, and proceeded to beat my face in to get it back. I managed to beat him, but I had to use the darkness...before he died, he used his life force to do one final attack but it went wrong. He ended up setting the island on fire" Sora explained.

"You killed him?" Aqua said. There was no accusation in her voice, she just wanted to know why out of curiosity. She would never question his actions.

"I had to. He was too strong to overpower by a wide enough margin to subdue, and he was out for my life" He said, sad that he was forced to take a life.

"Hey, if it ever comes down to it, I will always choose you. So make sure you do too. No matter what" she said, kissing him.

Sora let himself enjoy the warmth of their shared kiss, and let go of the conflict raging on inside of him.

"What about Xion and them all?" Aqua asked.

"I couldn't find them at all, so they must have left before the end of my fight" Sora reassured her. "I didn't see Ventus with you, did he leave already?"

"He did leave, we might bump into him in Twilight Town" Aqua answered.

"Okay good then."

Sora turned while in flight, facing the island that was ablaze in the distance. He felt a pang of hurt at the loss of his island. He spent his youth there, and had lived a great life before the World called him to join the fight. He began to feel tears rolling down his cheek. Aqua saw the melancholy on Sora's face and reached up to wipe the tears away.

"I'm sorry you've lost your home. I know the pain of watching it go, though in the end I got mines back. I will do my best to make a new home for you. I will try to become your new home" Aqua said, a strange excitement in her voice.

Sora sighed and pressed his face into her hand. "Haha, I don't know how you'd be a home. You're much too small to be a house" He joked with a sniffle.

Aqua just smiled and caressed his cheek affectionately, content in the here and now. She looked at the distant red island and wondered what could have gave Sora so much trouble in a fight, and wondered if there were more like it. Clearly Sora was being targeted, but for what? Something for a woman, a mother? She decided to meet up with an old friend when she got the chance, and ask if she had any ideas of what could be hunting down Sora.

* * *

Floating above the world Sora was in, Kingdom Hearts looked down in mild amusement. A heart as red as fire flew up towards her, and she let it rest in her hand. She gingerly pet it and cooed at it lovingly. Suddenly, she clenched her hand into a fist and crushed it to pieces, absorbing the shards right after.

"**Dhuma-ketu, my child of ash, it seems you couldn't get the job done. It is okay, you can rest now. I will put you back into the cycle once I am done with this wayward child of dust. Sora is powerful, even without the Power Of Waking. Having it allows him to access the full potential of his darkness and light, though he has yet to do so. He used his darkness, or rather his scorned lovers darkness, to fuel his assault and was quite formidable for it. Aqua seems to be under the impression he is a god, though at this rate that would not be such an incorrect assessment."**

She leisurely waved her hand in front of her, summoning those doors of light once more. They were all still open, and she waved to one of them calling forth another child.

"**Child of Wonder, come and plunder the mind to which I claim, use your silver tongue to divide up the bunch, and whisk your target away."**

One of the doors hummed and a feminine figure walked out from it. She was shorter than her brother, about five feet and five inches. And her skin was silver. She had golden hair that seemed to flow as if blown by a light breeze at all times. Her eyes were a silvery blue and her small bust was covered in a golden sash, as well as her shapely lower body with it's own. She looked up at her Queen and spoke in a voice as sweet as honey.

"**Mother! It's been so long!" **the child of wonder shouted in glee, rushing up to hug the Queen.

Kingdom Hearts greeted her warmly with a happy smile and a loving embrace.

"**My darling Aty-Adbhuta, you warm your mother's heart!" **Kingdom Hearts said.

"**HaHahahaha, funny mommy. So, who do you need me to kill?"** Aty-Adbhuta asked, still smiling broadly.

"**Straight to the point I see, as usual. Well, those pesky children of dust have done it again and abused my very generous gift" **the Queen said with a pout.

"**Geez, when are you gonna learn that they are no good? Is the dick really that goo-"**

Kingdom Hearts back handed Aty-Adbhuta across her mouth, causing a splatter of red to fly out of it and then gripped her head and pushed her against an invisible ground.

"**Sigh, why is every time I talk to you, you go off and say something disrespectful? You will not comment on what I do and who I do it with. Sora is you target, and then Kairi" **she injected images of the two into Aty-Adbhuta's mind, very painfully, "**Rip back my power and return it to me. Your brother of ash failed. I have faith you will do better. Go."**

Kingdom Hearts released her mouthy daughter, and Aty-Adbhuta got up and nodded her head, still smiling.

"**No worries mother! And also don't worry about being a bad parent, I won't follow your example and fuck him!"**

Kingdom Hearts shot a raging meteor from her palm to crash into Aty-Adbhuta, but Aty-Adbhuta giggled as she blinked out of existence letting the flaming rock fly through the atmosphere.

"**Insolent child" **the Queen muttered to herself.


	7. What A Wonderful World

Finally off the Islands. Shame it burned down, it was my favorite place in all the video games. But the story must go on -swoons dramatically-

Lots of character interactions, and a new enemy approaches! Or does she?

* * *

Sora and Aqua reached Twilight Town and decided to grab something to eat while they killed some time. They stopped at a pop up shop and got some cheese steaks. They made their way to the train station and looked out over the side just outside of it. They took in the view of Twilight Town, which was always in the warm glow of a setting sun. Aqua leaned on Sora's shoulder, and the two of them were at peace for the moment.

"Hey!"

A distant shout caught their attention, and they looked up towards where it came from. They saw a large group of people on the clock tower, sitting on the ledge. They could just make out Lea's unique spiky red hair. Running toward the tower they dashed up the side of it, climbing until they reached the group of friends.

"Hey you two. Welcome to the meeting" Lea said, motioning for Sora and Aqua to take a seat.

The two did, and were handled ice cream from Xion who pulled them out of seemingly nowhere. The order of seats went Pence, Hayner, Olette, Roxas, Xion, Aqua, Sora, and Lea, from left to right.

"Well, what's on the agenda today?" Sora said, playing along.

"We are trying to figure out what the hell happened to Destiny Islands" Roxas said.

"We were just leaving for town when we noticed everything was on fire. It was insane!" Xion said.

"And not the nice kind of fire either, 'cause it did not want to listen to me at all" Lea said.

"An entire island can't just burst into flames, there has to be a reason" Pence piped up, with Hayner and Olette voicing agreements.

"Well actually guys, I can enlighten you on what happened" Sora said. He then recounted the fight with them, this time with much more detail than when he told Aqua feeling better that he won't have to repeat himself.

"Whoa, that sounds epic. What a fight! How the hell'd we miss that action?!" Roxas said, clearly fired up.

"I have no clue, we pretty much demolished half of the island before our fight was over" Sora said, also confused on how nobody knew what was going on.

"So this magical giant fire man threw up magic fire from his ripped out throat? That's...kind of gruesome" Pence said.

"Yeah, did you really have to kill him? You can't just go around killing people" Olette said, earning a hard glare from Aqua.

"That's what you do when you're fighting for your life. But I guess you would know nothing about that." Aqua said hotly.

"Sora, how did you freely access the darkness? Usually what follows is a person losing their heart" Xion asked.

"Honestly I don't know, but he mentioned that he was going to kill Kairi after he was done with me. Hearing that, I just snapped" Sora answered.

"Well I don't hold it against you buddy, I would snap too if someone said they were going to kill someone I care about. That's ridiculous!" Hayner said.

"Speaking of Kairi, how are you two love birds doing" Olette asked, earning another scathing glare from Aqua. 'Geez what's her issue' Olette thought to herself.

"Actually guys, we aren't involved anymore...we actually just got engaged but she called it off.." Sora said, looking dejected.

"Whoa did she get cold feet? You guys where going crazy looking for each other no way it ends just like that!" Hayner said.

"Apparently it can" Sora said. "Just like that, she wants nothing to do with me."

"I'm sorry Sora, it must feel so terrible. I could tell you really loved her" Pence said, offering his comfort.

"Are you sure you didn't do something wrong? A girls feelings aren't so fickle you know, you had to have put her off somehow" Olette said, getting a look that screamed down right murder from Aqua.

"I...don't want to talk about it.." Sora said.

Olette was about to press Sora for answers when Pence, clearly seeing the look of danger Aqua was sending Olette everytime she opened her mouth wisely decided to change the subject.

"We understand Sora! So! What's next then? Roxas was telling us all the amazing things you've done Sora, and how you've saved us yet again from another evil we had no clue about. Thanks by the way."

"No problem Pence! I live here too ya know" Sora chuckled, glad to be off the hook.

"We were planning on resuming our duties as keyblade masters and patrolling the worlds to keep things in balance" Aqua said.

"Yeah? We were probably going to set up shop in Twilight Town" Roxas said.

"So you're sticking around?" Olette said, a hopefulness to her voice.

"Yup! We were always travelling and never had a place to call home. Now, we want to settle down roots and live life to its fullest" Xion said.

"Well that's fine and all, but there's a cost to living ya know. I can try to talk to my old man and see if he could use any of you in his car shop for work" Hayner offered.

"Nah, that's okay, we were gonna stick to our trade" Lea said casually.

"What's that?" Pence asked.

"Assassinat-oof!" Lea was cut off by an elbow from Sora.

"Bail Bonds! He means bail bounds" Xion covered up.

"Bail bonds huh? There aren't too many crimes around here, but I supposed we do have the Dawn Jail" Olette said.

"Ventus also said he wanted to stick around, find his parents maybe. He was going to live on the island, but seeing as it's no longer there he will probably need to live here. I'd hate to ask, but would you take care of him? He's still pretty naive" Aqua said.

"I uh, I think it might take some convincing haha, but sure. Consider him one of us!" Roxas said full of gusto.

"Tehe...two Roxas' huh.." Xion mumbled to herself with a perverted chuckle.

"Another person to train with, that's good enough for me. Besides, we are some pretty inclusive people, aren't we?" Lea said.

Roxas and Xion just smiled coyly.

"I'm really glad you guys are figuring out your place in the world. I don't think I'll have to worry that much about you at least. But here" Sora said. He held out his hand and focused magical energy into his palm. In a flash of light, a silver wayfinder with black stained glass appeared in his hand.

"No matter how far apart we are, I am always with you. If you ever need me, call out with your heart from this, and I will be at your side." Sora said, reaching behind Aqua and handing the wayfinder to Xion.

"Thank you Sora, I'll always keep it close" Xion said. She weaved some small magical chains and made the wayfinder into a proper necklace and wore it.

"Well, It's about time for my shift to start fellas. I'll be heading out. Great seeing everyone." Hayner said, getting up and stretching.

Pence and Olette got up as well, noting that they all worked at the same place and shift. The group of friends said their goodbyes and departed. Lea and Roxas decided they might as well get started on establishing their "Bail Bond" business and dragged Xion along. They too said their goodbyes and left, leaving Sora and Aqua alone.

The two sat close and Sora laid himself along the ledge, resting his head on Aqua's firm and soft lap. They had an even better view of the town from up here and felt the world simply wash away in the eternal red glow.

"You know, at times like this, I wish I could finally lay down my keyblade and just live freely" Sora said.

"I understand. After all I've done and sacrificed, I want nothing more than to just be at peace. I always find myself asking. 'How much more do I have to give before the work is done?'" Aqua said.

Sora sighed. "I don't think the work will ever be done" he said.

"I know. There's no way to just find the source of darkness and end it once and for all" Aqua said.

"What is darkness anyway? If someone does something bad, why does darkness have to be along for the ride? If I stab someone, why cant the guy just be stabbed. Why does there have to be a heartless a nobody and darkness all around those involved?" Sora asked.

"The Master told me that darkness and light both come from the same source, Kingdom Hearts. But Kingdom Hearts isn't sentient, it just is. It reacts to things in the World but can't think for itself or anything. The only way to control it is with the _X_-blade, but the price is always lives when dealing with that thing" Aqua said, remember all the broken and abandoned keyblades at the keyblade graveyard.

"If only there was a way to interact with Kingdom Hearts and figure it out, maybe we could finally control and balance all the light and darkness in the World. Otherwise, it will just go on forever" Sora said.

"Careful, you're starting to sound like the old man now" spoke a feminane voice from beside Aqua.

Reacting instantly, Sora bounded up and pressed his elbow into the mysterious persons throat and pressed her hard against the tower. Silvery blue eyes gazed into his cobalt blue ones.

"Who are you? How did you get so close to us?" He demanded, furious that someone had gotten so close to Aqua without either of them noticing.

"I walked, like anyone else" The woman smiled. "Surely walking isn't a crime right?"

Sora looked at the woman, his stare wavering, and let her go. He was ashamed he had just assaulted the woman like that out of the blue. Aqua was surprised that someone got that close to Sora without her noticing, but Sora reacted faster than she did. She wasn't bothered that he rammed his elbow into her throat, it was rather exciting to see him in action.

"Who are you, and what do you want" Aqua said firmly, getting up as well.

"Geez you guys are so hostile! We're all friends here" The woman said.

"Well friends tell each other their names. I'm Sora."

The woman smiled and looked at Aqua expectedly.

"He said that, I have no intention of being a friend" Aqua stated firmly.

"One out of two ain't bad I guess" The woman said. She then twirled and struck an extravagant pose, as if taking a model photo. Her golden hair floated gently in the breeze and her golden belly shirt and skirt hung loosely on her. "The names Wonder, Pleasure to meet you Sora!"

"Wonder? Is that like a stage name or something?" Sora said.

Wonder pouted cutely and 'hmphed'. "I'm not a stripper or something! I happen to be a wandering traveler who couldn't help but notice your light and darkness. I came by just as you were talking about controlling Kingdom Hearts. That sounds like something up the old man's alley" Wonder said, picking her ear with her pinky.

"What old man" Aqua asked.

"Xehanort, who else?" Wonder said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Rage surged through Sora at being compared to that decrepit old monster and he felt the urge to punch this newcomer in the face.

"He is the one that always went on about Kingdom Hearts and resetting the World blah blah blah. As if she'd listen to him because he had some knock off of the real thing" Wonder mused.

"What are you saying? That there actually is a way to control Kingdom Hearts, just not the way Xehanort thought?" Sora asked, forcing his anger aside.

"Well since you asked, yes there is a way to control Kingdom Hearts. The old man always pestered me about telling him what I know, but he just wasn't gonna cut it so I never bothered. But you...you might be able to control that bitch" Wonder said, eyeing Sora from head to toe.

"Well will you tell us then? This could be huge. A way to end the struggle of light and darkness forever! If you're telling the truth" Aqua said.

"Hmmmm nope! I only tell my friends, and you're not my friend" Wonder said, flipping Aqua the bird.

"Why you little-" Aqua said offended, but Sora blocked her advance. He smiled, and put Wonder's hand into his own.

"I am willing to do anything to save the World. I want balance, and I want something to happen without it having the potential to sink an entire planet into darkness. Please, tell me how" Sora begged.

Wonder smiled like a lion who knew she had her prey cornered. "Fine, I'll tell you. The secret to controlling Kingdom Hearts, is to make her scream."

"Scream, what? Why scream?" Sora asked baffled. He just barely noticed a yellow blur outside of his vision.

"Cause shes a slut! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Wonder yelled, laughing as she shoved Sora off the clock tower and falling with him hugged him tightly.

"Sora!" Aqua screamed, but they had already fallen off. She leap right after them.

"SO, isn't this exciting? Isn't this a THRILL!?" Wonder said as she and Sora fell, wind rushing pass them. .

Sora was as calm as could be however. "Nah, this is kiddie stuff. Did you really think this would work on me?"

"Huh? What are you on about, you're about to go splat on the ground!" Wonder said, her maniacal glee faltering.

"Come on, you can do better than this right?" Sora said smugly.

"...Well, did I at least get Aqua's reaction down?" Wonder said, seeing she was caught.

"I don't think so, she would have just cast a stop spell and saved me without much issue" Sora said.

Wonder just sighed as Sora and her exploded when they hit the ground.

…

Sora took a deep gasp of air. He could hear Aqua say something from his side.

"Well, are you going to tell us how to control Kingdom Hearts or what?" Aqua impatiently said, tapping her foot.

Wonder simply looked at Sora with a smile. Sora stared at her for a moment before realizing something.

"So it's an illusion, but I still feel some of the pain I felt while under it?" He asked.

"Yup, my special brand of illusion as a matter of fact. The only way out is to die, and when you come back from it your mind makes your body feel the same pain you felt while under it. How much pain transferred is up to me and how much concentration I put into it, but this time I was in the same illusion as you so I didn't think too hard about it." Wonder explained, ignoring Aqua.

"Illusion? Sora what is she talking about?" Aqua asked clearly confused.

"She put me under an illusion. I guess she was just messing with me, but it was too weak to hold me down" Sora explained.

"What! Why would you do that?" Aqua demanded, getting into a fighting stance.

"Now now, he was never in any real danger. My illusions could be years long in your head but only seconds pass in real time. I just wanted to know if Sora was worth all the hype. My brother sure seemed to think so" Wonder finished darkly.

"Who is your brother?" Sora asked.

"Never you mind that little one. Now as a reward I will actually give you a clue as to how to control kingdom hearts. The first step is to seize the means of production. If you don't have the proper tools, knowing how to use them is pointless. Find a heart of pure gold, and then we can go from there" Wonder said.

"A heart of pure gold? Like a solid gold heart?" Sora asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. Once you find it, I'll be in touch" Wonder said. Then, she just jumped off the clocktower, disappearing before she hit the ground and laughing loudly the entire way.

"Well, that sure was a unique encounter" Sora said, processing everything.

"I don't know if she's trustworthy or not, but any lead to control Kingdom Hearts is worth looking into" Aqua said.

"I agree. We should go see my friend Leon, he usually knows about stuff like this. Try not to piss him off though, he's pretty pissy from being left out of our last adventure" Sora said.

"Well I'm sure there was a perfectly logical and sound reason he was left out" Aqua said, summoning her keyblade to donne her space armor.

"Haha, you'd think right…" Sora responded doing the same.

Having already said their goodbyes and with a possible adventures set before them, Sora and Aqua began their journey to Radiant Garden.

* * *

Sora and Aqua's trip through space was uneventful, and they reached Radiant Garden within the hour. Sora walked the streets with Aqua at his side, passing people he knew and faces he never paid much mind to. Upon encountering Cloud, Sora walked up to him and gave him a hard pat on the back.

"Cloud buddy! How the hell've you've been!" Sora greeted with forced cheer just to annoy him.

Cloud mean mugged him intensely, and scoffed at his attempt to annoy him. "Sora. It's been a while."

"Indeed it has. How are you" Sora asked, being more serious and sincere this time.

"It has been better...I can spend time with my sister now without the darkness looming over me, and Tifa is great to be with" Cloud responded.

"Wait, no darkness? Does that mean...Cloud! You finally settled it with Sephiroth?" Sora asked, excited.

Cloud smiled, a heartfelt smile. "I realized that I was just fighting against myself. I wanted to be rid of the darkness that lingered over me for so long, but what I really wanted was to have control back. I needed to accept that there is darkness in me, but that means it is mine to do with as I will. When I fought it I kept denying it, giving it a life of it's own with my own resistance. But I have finally settled things, and I am me."

Sora gave Cloud a hug full of warmth, which Cloud awkwardly returned. "I'm so happy for you man."

"D'awh!" Aqua said, drawing Cloud's attention.

Cloud looked at her and made a face, confusing Aqua.

"Sora, there is something you should know. Kairi is-" Cloud started, but was cut off by a sort of manly scream.

Sora looked towards the scream to see Terra flying through the air right towards them. Terra crashed right into Sora, though not on purpose.

"Sora! Terra? What are you doing" Aqua shouted.

Terra groaned and shook himself off as he got up and off Sora. "Sora? Wow, what are the odds. I'm sorry man" Terra said as he helped Sora up.

"Sure no problem, but what was that about?" Sora asked.

"Well, I've been here for a while and have been studying under this powerful wizard named Merlin. He said I could be a powerful sorcerer in geomancy, and I've been put through the ringer ever since. As payment for training me I agreed to be a subject in his more...experimental earth spells" Terra explained.

"Terra."

Terra slowly turned to meet Aqua's irritated face, sweating slightly in the face of her accusing glare.

"H-hey Aqua" he said meekly.

"You idiot! Ven has been looking everywhere for you! How could you just vanish? Did you learn nothing after all we've been through!?" She hollered.

"Look, after our argument I cooled off and gave it some thought, and you're right. I'm not a good person. I was enticed by the darkness, and that makes me terrible" Terra said, head hung low.

Aqua felt tears come to her eyes. "You aren't a terrible person for letting the darkness get to you. You're an asshole for enjoying it! I don't think of you any less for succumbing, I'm scared that my friend is a psychopath!" She yelled.

Terra stood there in silence. He was glad she wasn't bothered by the darkness in him anymore, but did she really think he was some lunatic?

Sora had been watching with Cloud the whole time in silence, and turned to ask Cloud if he knew where Leon and the gang were.

"Well, I was trying to tell you something, but upon greater time to reflect I think it'll be much more interesting if you just found out on your own. They are at the usual spot, though I think your Miss will be very very happy to see you given your current situation" Cloud said, grinning at the complete chaos that would follow Sora showing up at Leon's place. He was not going to miss it.

Sora ignored how weird Cloud was being about it, and turned to Aqua who was visibly upset. He walked up to her and hugged her from behind, making sure to press her flush against him.

"Aqua, we need to keep moving. Do you want me to leave you here to work things out with Terra?" Sora asked, his mouth just on her neck.

The physical contact served to sooth Aqua and make her forget her ill feelings. She cupped Sora's cheek and brought one of his hands to her chest. "I would like to settle this, but whatever you want, I'll do" She said hotly.

Terra couldn't believe Aqua was having Sora basically hump her in public, and Cloud was getting more and more giddy with the developments before him. Between Kairi and Aqua and that famous ninja, shit was going to so hit the fan. Cloud chose to leave at this time.

"Aqua, what are you doing? Letting him feel you up like that?" Terra said, slightly red from anger.

"It's my body, I can do what I want with whoever I want. You don't get to say what I do with it" Aqua shot back, making a show of grabbing Sora's crotch causing him to blush.

"Y-You whore! So you just parade yourself around now?! The Master would be ashamed of you!" Terra shouted, very worked up.

"The Master is dead! Or did you forget you piece of shit!" Aqua shouted right back, summoning her keyblade.

"You're a tramp and he's rolling in his grave because of you! I may have given in to the darkness but you had it in EVERY hole you have I bet!" Terra yelled summoning his keyblade as well.

Aqua's body jolted in anger and bitterness at Terra's words. He didn't know just how true what he said was, and she felt herself drown in agony. Her keyblade leaked darkness from small cracks that formed on it as it's Master fell into despair.

"What would you know about it!? You never even asked if I was okay!" Aqua was beside herself with hate and spite. She lunged at Terra at an impossible speed only to see Sora dash in front of her and parry her keyblade, forcing her into a hug.

Aqua froze in Sora's embrace, and slowly let herself break down in Sora's accepting embrace. She sobbed and Sora felt himself absorbing her pain, making it her own. After a few moments she kissed him and thanked him for caring for her. They turned to leave without so much as a look toward the stunned Terra. As they left, Sora discreetly gathered some of the darkness he took from Aqua into a small needle on his finger tip. He sent it careening towards Terra and it struck him right over the heart, sinking in and forcing itself into Terra's blood stream, all without his knowing. Terra just hung his head, at a loss at having hurt his friend once again.

* * *

Sora walked with Aqua against him all the way to Leon's place. They reached the door and knocked. There was some footsteps that could be heard as the the knob shook and was turned. The door opened and revealed Leon, who look in surprise at Sora.

"S-Sora? You're here now?" Leon said.

"What? Not happy to see me?" Sora asked, put off by how weird Leon was acting.

"Hey is that Sora?" Sora heard Cloud call out from somewhere in the room. Cloud shoved his way past Leon and dragged Sora in the doorway, Aqua following along.

"Hey hey, what is going on?" Sora said, demanding to know why everyone was acting so weird. His body froze as he scanned the room and his eyes fell on a familiar pair of blue.

"Kairi?" He said.

"Sora...I didn't know you'd be here..." Kairi said. She was seated in a comfortable looking red chair. With Riku standing protectively next to her.

"So what, you break my heart and then run to MY friends for comfort? Are you serious?" Sora said, his voice rising.

"Sora, relax. I don't care what drama is going on between you or anyone right now. The worlds are in trouble" Leon said sternly.

"What else is new" Sora scoffed.

"This is serious" Riku said, earning a betrayed look from Sora.

"Riku you were supposed to always have my back…" Sora said dejectedly.

"I have the back of light. Right now, Kairi is what the World needs. And you are a threat. I'm sorry, but I can not stand by your side this time" RIku said, only a small amount of regret in his voice.

Sora felt his body heat up in fury. Who do these people think they are? They were inconsequential, nothing but dust in the wind compared to him! His blood pumped hard and his jaw tightened painfully, his hands starting to tighten as well.

Aqua, sensing Sora's anger and feelings of betrayal, gave him a full body hug while kissing him firmly. Gasps went off around the room. Leon was shocked, glad that a certain person wasn't here to see this. Riku was slightly jealous, having taken quite a liking to Aqua. Kairi was shocked, and upset that apparently she had meant so little to Sora that he has already moved on when she didn't think she would ever love again.

"Fuck you you man whore!" Kairi screamed, standing up and sending a powerful aero blast that sent Sora through the wall. He had pushed Aqua off of him at the last second sparring her the brunt of it.

Sora crashed onto the street and rolled onto his side. He thought he saw a bundle of gold at the corner of his vision, but had little time to react as Kairi burst through the same hole he had and kicked him in the ribs hard sending him into a nearby wall. She rushed him to throw another kick, but Sora caught her foot and spun her hard slamming her into the ground and landing on top of her. He proceeded to pound Kairi's face in with punch after punch, yelling obscenities between each one.

"You. Stupid. Bitch. How. Dare. You. Leave. Me! And. Riku. Too!"

Riku brushed off his shock and went outside to find Sora bashing Kairi's face in with reckless violence. He summoned his keyblade and went to stop him when he felt chains wrap around him and hold him in place.

"Now now, Sora wants to show that cunt a lesson. You will not interfere" Aqua said with a manic grin.

"Damnit Aqua let me go!" Riku struggled, but the chains of light were unbreakable and there was no slack in them. He could only watch helplessly as Sora beat Kairi.

Leon had just walked outside and was greeted with a scene he never thought he would see. He shook his head at how terrible and stupid it all was. Apparently, worlds aren't as important as love drama. Though he had to admit Sora was really laying into Kairi.

Sora had no intention of easing up, and Kairi's protests grew weaker and weaker until he stopped feeling her resist completely. He focused his eyes to see Kairi's face broken and caved in, a mesh of fractured bone and gore. Sora could only stare in numb shock at what he had done. He had killed Kairi.

Darkness poured out of Sora's eyes and mouth in a tidal wave, rushing out from him and consuming the world, then pushing past its boundaries into the Space Between in an endless march. He faintly felt it devour the nothingness, gulping down any other world it came in contact with in an instant. In his heart of hearts he knew eventually the World would be engulfed in his darkness. His consciousness thinned as his darkness expanded. Sora's last thoughts were of Kairi, and how he deserves every bad thing that happens to him for what he's done.

...

Sora blinked hard, and rolled to his side after getting blown through the wall. He replayed what he had just experienced, and noticed a bundle of gold much more clearly this time.

'Wonder!' he thought to himself.

Sora had no time to ponder why Wonder was messing with him this time because just as in his recent vision Kairi rushed forth and kicked him in the ribs. Remembering what came next, he grabbed her foot and spun her onto the ground to mount her. He thought about what to do next, and remembered how he had reacted in the illusion. He had killed Kairi. And it did not make him feel better. In fact it was what finally made him fully succumb to the darkness, as he could not go on with his sin. So instead, he grabbed her wrists and made cuffs of earth to hold them in place, as well as her ankles and around her waist. Maybe they could talk this out.

In a town over, a mighty ninja blew her nose after yet another strong sneeze.

"Alright, I need to ask Leon if there is some sort of bug going around. This is getting ridiculous."

"Damn it you bastard let me go! I'm gonna kick your balls out through your mouth!" Kairi yelled at Sora.

Riku came outside and saw the situation, and immediately went to help Kairi. Aqua however swiftly came up on his side and tripped him, holding him down with the tip of her keyblade placed on his spine.

"Now now little darkling, Master wants to teach this cunt a lesson. Be a good shadow and stay out of it" Aqua said, a manic smile on her face.

Leon finally made it outside and looked on in awe at the stupidity of it all. Here the worlds were blinking out like no ones business, and the keyblade heros were caught up in drama. He was just glad it was only them here at the moment.

"Hey Leon, is there some bug going around? I've been sneezing like crazy" A woman spoke as she rounded the corner. The one woman Leon absolutely did not want to be here for this right now.

Sora stiffened, and his body began to heat up at the sound of this woman's voice. The woman that had made him a man. He looked over at her, standing in all her ninja glory.

"Yuffie!" Sora called out.

"Hey hottie! What the hell is going on? Kairi's being held down, Riku is being held down, and there's a huge hole in my wall. What am I missing? And who is paying for that?" Yuffie said.

"Yuffie, your timing is just the worst" Leon said, sighing heavily and palming his face.

"Hey! I didn't do anything this time, ninja's honor!" Yuffie said.

"AAARRGGHH!" Kairi screamed, forcing magic to pump into her body and breaking free from the earth bonding. She proceeded to smack Sora who was lost in thought staring at Yuffie. Very, very hard.

Sora stumbled from the hit, and Kairi was gearing up for another. To Aqua's surprise, Yuffie reached Kairi before she did. Yuffie was a blur around Kairi as she bound her with rope. Kairi had her hands tied to her left ankle, and fell over screaming in rage.

"Hun why is Kairi trying to beat that pretty face of yours? Weren't you gonna pop the big question? Did it not work out?" Yuffie said, feeling Sora's face for damage.

Sora just let himself be consumed by Yuffie's attention. "It's...complicated. But we aren't involved anymore. She called off the engagement…"

"I'm so sorry baby. No one in their right mind would give you up. I sure didn't want to" Yuffie said, whispering her last sentence for just the two of them.

"Yuffie! Get me out of this! Sora is a two-timing bastard!" Kairi raged.

"Sora is a lot of things, but a cheater is not one of them. My baby wouldn't cheat on a video game, much less the love of his life" Yuffie asserted, ignoring the dull pang of pain in her heart.

"I didn't cheat on you! I loved you!" Sora yelled at Kairi.

"Then why is Aqua all up on you and kissing you huh? You wanted her all along!" Kairi said, getting hysterical.

"You broke up with me! After I proposed to you! After I saved your heart! After everything I've done to you and after everything I've promised you! You don't get to have it both ways!" Sora said, getting equally hysterical. His hands were starting to tighten again and his jaw was so tight he could barely get any words out.

Yuffie noticed Sora's unnatural tension and decided that at the least she wouldn't let Kairi do any more damage than she apparently already has. "Alright baby, that's enough for now," she said to Sora. With that she hugged Sora tightly and the both of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Aqua calmly got off of Riku and he immediately went to go cut Kairi free. Aqua looked at Leon who seemed pretty frustrated, and figured she should be the responsible one and properly hear him out. She wasn't too bothered by Yuffie's closeness to Sora, after all he could do whatever he wanted. He was the King above all Kings in her mind. She walked back inside and motioned Leon to follow her, which he did without much fuss.

Kairi was silent as Riku helped him up. Riku didn't know what to say, so he said nothing.

"Let's go. We know what we have to do. Use your connection to darkness to sniff it out, and we will start that way. I don't care what Leon has to say, I don't want to be here" Kairi said.

Riku nodded his head and called the gummi ship. He stretched out his senses, ignoring the absurdly potent darkness from Sora, and looked for nearby worlds that may need help. They boarded the ship and took off.

Yuffie and Sora sat on one of the peaks of the old Castle. This was their favorite spot to spend time together. Far away from everyone.

"SO, mind properly filling me in on just what is going on hun?" Yuffie asked, her hand covered by his own.

Sora sighed, and turned to face her properly. He pulled her into a hug and she was content to rest herself on him.

"I asked Kairi to marry me. During the final battle with Xehanort, she was taken out. After we won, I couldn't bare to keep her waiting a second more. She didn't deserve to die, she was innocent in all of this. So, I used this new power I gained, the Power Of Waking. I was able to journey into a world just before death, where hearts sleep until they finally pass on. I found her, and dived into her heart" Sora explained. He paused, contemplating if he should tell Yuffie the whole complete truth. 'If I'm gonna tell anyone, it would be her'.

"Wow baby, you literally went to the grave for her. Well? Go on!" Yuffie said, enthralled by the epic story despite herself.

Sora chuckled and kissed her forehead lovingly. "Well, I found her. She was ready to give up. She had… she had given in to the darkness. She wanted to die, to pass on. She felt so alone, because I always left her when I went on my adventures. It's not like I wanted to, and she understood I had to, but her grief was too much to bare. We fought, and honestly she kicked my ass. I don't know if she had the home field advantage or something but she out foxed and overpowered me. She was going to take us both out, but I loved her so much. I made a promise that I would never leave her alone again, and I asked her to mary me. She said yes as we were brought back to this World" Sora continued.

"Whoa...that is the most Nicholas Sparks romance nonsense I could ever imagine. SO it seems you did again, you beat the bad guy and saved the World. Why is everything so fucked?" Yuffie asked, absent mindedly caressing Sora's steel body.

"When I saved her, something changed in me. Darkness had somehow taken root deep in my heart. We found this out when I went to go checked by Yen Sid due to Mickey's concern. He insisted that I had been abusing this new power I got, and that there was always a penalty for doing so. He was right in the end, and Yen Sid freaked out after examining me. Mickey freaked as a result, and I freaked because I felt that Mickey was attacking me for something I couldn't control. Ultimately we ended up fighting it out physically, and I guess I took it too far. I...I almost killed him. I wanted nothing more than to cut those ridiculous ears off his disproportioned head."

"You went toe to toe with the King? And won? Wow, I know you beat Xehanort but I know more about what the King can do so that really puts things into perspective. As for almost killing him...well, all that matters is that you didn't" Yuffie reassured him.

"I didn't stop because I wanted to though! Yen SId had to intervene. I was completely committed to killing the KIng! After that, Kairi met me on the Island the next day, She...she called off the engagement. She said that she needed to find her own way, and that the darkness in me was too dangerous to have around. She left me, a sobbing mess on the sands where we first met…" Sora said, his eyes watering at the fresh memory.

"Oh baby, you are the most amazing and wonderful person I know. Shame on her for letting you go cause you are a normal human being and not some perfect god. That cunt gave into the darkness herself, a darkness you saved her from! Where does she get off acting all high and mighty now!?" Yuffie said, working herself up.

"Yuffie please, it's okay" Sora tried to say, though he was completely ignored.

"That naive little brat! I should beat her to a pulp and skin her alive!" Yuffie yelled, now thoroughly worked up.

"Yuffie come on-" Sora tried again, to no avail.

"I'll break her fingers and toes and roll her down the highest steepest hill I can find after laying it with spikes and salt goddamnit!" She hollered to the sky.

"Baby please!"

Yuffie looked at Sora as if just noticing he was there. "Oh. Hey Hun. Was I monologuing again?"

"Yes baby. Just leave her alone. I already...thought about hurting her. Even killing her. It wouldn't make me feel better. I just want her to be happy. If it isn't with me then, it isn't with me." Sora said.

"But sunshine, what about your happiness?" Yuffie said, much more composed now.

"I've lost my best friends, Riku Donald and Goofy won't even talk to me. I understand why it's just, so hard. I ruined everything. I've lost everything I fought to protect." Sora lamented, sorrow coating his voice.

"Hey, I know you lost a lot. But you still have me." Yuffie said, blushing just enough to notice.

"W-what do you mean? I thought you said we shouldn't be too close?" Sora said, confused. Confused, but hopeful.

"Sigh I only said that when I did, because it was clear you were in love with Kairi. That you should be with her. Light with light. I didn't want to confuse you after we,um…"


	8. Here For A Good Time, Not A Long Time

A proper flashback this chapter, oooooo. Also, I'm not caring too much about the exact time line for cannon events, I will just make them believable and use whatever works for my purposes. Yuffie is also my favorite FF character, and I'm sure as things progress that will show. Start letting me know what worlds you would like to see in this story, I'm open to any. I'll do proper research if I don't know the world you offer. The first one has already been chosen, so the sooner I get suggestions the easier I can make the tie in. Enjoy!

* * *

**-One Year Ago-**

Yuffie lounged around as she looked on at the party goers. Sora had thought to throw a party for Riku to celebrate him becoming a Keyblade Master. Sora had rounded up everyone he could, even people from other worlds, and spruced up the island with furniture lights and speakers all about. She had to admit, it wasn't half bad and he even got a well known catering service from Twilight Town to supply plenty of food and drink. There was a lot of people, but also plenty of space all around the island so it didn't feel too crowded. She spotted Riku, the man of the hour, talking to Kairi. She observed how Kairi seemed to laugh at almost everything Riku said, and was generous with the touching of muscles. Riku looked flushed and buzzed, so she figured he didn't even notice but Kairi was known for not drinking, so she had no excuse.

Yuffie saw Sora coming up behind Riku, no doubt to do something silly and surprise him. As soon as Kairi saw Sora she quickly took her hands away from Riku and stood in a more reserved way. Yuffie payed attention to their interaction.

"Guess who!" Sora said as he covered Riku's eyes from behind.

"Uhhhh, Soura?" Riku said with a slight slur.

"Ah man, you got me! Nothing gets pass mister Keyblade Master" Sora said jovially.

"Please Sora, don't be so silly. If you ever want to be a Keyblade Master, you have to be cool like Riku." Kairi said.

"Blah blah, just wait. Next time I'll blow it out of the water!" Sora confidently said.

"Yeah good luck with that" Kairi said, her tone slightly condescending.

Yuffie saw Sora walk up and hug Kairi playfully, but the whole time Kairi was looking at Riku while giggling in the fakest voice Yuffie had ever heard.

'What the hell? Kairi is totally blowing off Sora!' Yuffie thought to herself. 'Hehehe, blowing off Sora'.

"Well I gotta thank you for throwing this big party buddy. I love ya man!" Riku said, picking up both Sora and Kairi in an embrace.

Yuffie saw how Kairi snuggled reeeeal close to Riku, with Sora just laughing along. The poor idiot. The poor, handsome, sexy, amazing idiot. She silently fumed at how Kairi was clearly showing more interest in Riku than Sora. It was no secret Sora loves Kairi, and it was believed she loved him right back. But based on what she's seen, Kairi at the very least thinks Riku is more attractive than Sora.

She saw Sora slip out of the hug, and cringed as Kairi let herself stay in it and brushed up on everything she could. Maybe Kairi thought she was being discreet but there was no deceiving the masterful eyes of the Great Ninja Yuffie. Sora started to walk away, and Yuffie quickly downed the rest of her whisky and followed.

Sora walked through the party, checking up on his guests along the way. Yuffie was impressed with the roster of people Sora managed to rope along for this. She saw him talk to Alice and the Mad Hatter, asking if they had enough tea. He asked Ariel and King Eric if they were enjoying themselves, and thanked them for the great tuna salad they brung. He stopped to watch Hercules and some of his kin showing off in an impromptu muscle show, flexing all the way. He greeted Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, thanking them for the dancers they provided for entertainment. He danced a bit with the bone daddy himself, Jack, and his entourage of spooks. He greeted animals, mythical creatures, other humans, gods, and what she was pretty sure was a heartless in a stripper outfit, all while smiling the entire way.

'Only he could deal with all this and not be drained from it. He really is amazing…' Yuffie thought to herself. She looked around in confusion a moment later, because suddenly Sora vanished. 'What the…'

"Guess who!" Sora said, popping up behind her and covering her eyes with his hands.

"Whoa! Hey how did you get the drop on me? You were right in front of me!" Yuffie yelled, her pride as a ninja slightly bruised.

"Haha, how did who get behind you? Is there someone there? Who could it be?" Sora goaded.

"Oh you think you're so clever huh. Well how about...This!" Yuffie said.

Yuffie ducked quickly and got away from Sora's hands. She went to slither her way around him and cover his own eyes with her own hands, but Sora outmaneuvered her and quickly covered her eyes once more.

"Now now, no peeking" Sora said with a barely contained laugh.

"URGH! Dammit! You won't win this!" Yuffie said.

What proceeded was Yuffie and Sora moving erratically, trying to out pace the other and cover their eyes. The party goers moved and made way as Sora and Yuffie moved about the grounds never quite getting the upper hand on the other. Seeing she wasn't faster than him, just more agile, Yuffie decided to go into the shadows and ambush Sora. She swiftly dropped a smoke bomb to mask her momentary retreat but Sora sensed her movement. She leaped high onto the cliff side and scanned down where she had just been to look for Sora. She sneered at the laughter of the party goers, obviously having enjoyed the little show.

"Idiots, don't they know this is serious" She said. She was many meters above them and was confident that nobody could even see her up here.

"And just how serious is it huh?" Sora said from behind Yuffie.

Yuffie nearly lept out of her own skin in surprise and on reflex pulled out a short blade to strike at whatever snuck up on her. Sora noticed the reaction and danger and Reacted to Counter the swing. Instantly he grabbed her wrist and flipped her so he was on top and straddling her.

"S-Sora! How the fuck!? I lost you down there!" Yuffie said, a healthy blush on her face.

"Oh wait, dammit you found out it was me! I lost again" Sora said, rubbing under his nose.

Yuffie was dumbfounded. Sora had beaten her once again. Oh they played this game many times. At first it was a cakewalk for Yuffie to out match Sora. He was inexperienced and new to the ninja arts. Yuffie had decided to train him up so he would be a better fighter. They found he had quite the affinity for swift movements. Yuffie had to admit he would make a Great ninja, if only he had the killer instinct needed to be decisive. But as time went on he got better and better, and eventually started beating her. Now, he had soundly beat her with little effort, and it hurt her to admit that the student has bested the master. It upset her. And made her very very horny.

"I guess I finally beat you fair and square huh? So what's next, oh great 'Sifu'" Sora taunted, as he moved to get up.

Before Sora could get up Yuffie quickly wrapped her legs around his waist and held him down. He silently marvelled at her incredible core strength to be able to do this, because he was actually trying to stand up but couldn't.

"Uh, Yuffie-Sifu? I gotta get up now" Sora said, a strong blush instantly on his face as his manhood was flush against her hot center.

"Sora, why are you with Kairi?" Yuffie asked, seemingly unbothered by her current grinding.

"Wh-what kind of question is that?" Sora asked, his breathing picking up.

"I'm just curious. I mean I get shes a princess of heart and you guys have a history, but is there any real relationship there? "

"WELL, me and HE-her aren't currently in a relationship, if that's what you're asking" Sora managed to get out. 'Whew, I'm about to lose it just from grinding against her!'

"Oh, that makes more sense then. 'Cause by the way she was flirting with Riku I was about ready to call her a cheater. I couldn't imagine anyone cheating on you. You are an absolute unit of a catch." Yuffie eased up on the grinding, seeing Sora was about to blow from it. She idly wondered if Sora was a virgin.

"She was flirting with Riku? Why would you say that?" Sora asked, a lot more composed.

"Come on, I've personally trained you. I know you aren't as clueless as everyone thinks you are. I know you saw her molesting him and barely paying you any mind. I could smell the pheromones from 20 meters away."

"..." Sora was silent.

"Say, you said you aren't in a relationship right? And it's clear Kairi ain't too bothered by the freedom."

"Yeah?" Sora asked.

"Heheh. I think as your master, I only have one Art left to teach you." Yuffie said, her smile growing perverse.

"Really? What?" Sora asked innocently.

"Sora, are you a virgin?" Yuffie bluntly asked.

Sora sputtered incoherently before focusing on Yuffie's serious and expectant face.

"Y-yes Sifu" Sora answered red faced.

"Wow! Honestly with all the worlds you've been to and people you've saved, I thought you'd be drowning in tail!" Yuffie chuckled in disbelief.

"Ha Ha laugh it up. So what. It means I'm pure" Sora defended.

"It means you're naive. It means you can be easily seduced and killed, or worse." Yuffie said seriously, causing Sora to gulp.

"But don't worry, this last Art will help you overcome that weakness" Yuffie said, and without hesitation boldly dropped Sora's pants, making his erection pop out. She was glad it was a good size and girth, it meant she could actually have some fun with this.

"Y-Y-y-Yuffie! What!" Sora shouted, flustered greatly.

"The last Art I'm going to teach you, is the Art of Seduction. Now don't disappoint your Sifu!" Yuffie said hungrily. She displayed her amazing flexibility by curling up, with her legs still wrapped around Sora's waist, and taking him into her mouth.

'Haha, blowing off Sora'

Forty-five minutes later, and Yuffie was laying on the top of the cliff in a damp panting mess. Never in her wildest dreams did she think a virgin, even if it was Sora, would out last her in sex. She must have got him off eight times, and he still was ready to go in less than a minute. She had to tap out after her fourteenth climax, her lower body just couldn't handle it. She was a weak quivering mess. What was pissing her off was Sora, and that goddamn cocky grin. He stood there, ready to go, panting only slightly. He had shown excellent vigor, and what he lacked in rhythm and technique he more than made up for in stamina. He went hard, soft, fast, slow, angled, every which way she instructed him without a single break in stroke.

'This man is a fucking legend' she thought to herself.

"WOW! Is that what I've been missing by declining all those offers from the woman I've helped out?" Sora said. As if by magic, the speakers below them started playing a song where the main chorus is a guy yelling 'I just had sex! And it felt sooo good!'.

'Fuckin' Lonely Island' Yuffie thought to herself. "Aha! I knew it! You were drowning it tail, you just keep swimming up never letting the water fill your lungs." Yuffie said, content with laying down as she was still unable to properly control her lower body.

"Well, I guess. But I always wanted it to be with someone special, you know? I didn't want it to just happen with someone I didn't love." Sora said.

"Oh. Yeah, it is pretty important. I...I'm sorry I pressured you into this. I didn't know it meant so much to you. God I'm so stupid I'm so sorry Sora, I swear I won't tell anyone!" Yuffie said. She was distraught at having basically cornered Sora into having sex. She thought the mood was right and was excited at breaking in a virgin. But now she was remorseful at tainting such a sweet man. She curled up into a ball and wanted to disappear.

"Hey, hey, Yuffie, I don't regret a thing" Sora said, kneeling in front of her and rubbing her shoulders.

"Y-you don't? But you said you wanted it to be with someone special. Someone you loved. It should have been Kairi" she said, tears threatening to escape her eyes. She just couldn't forgive herself for robbing that experience from Sora. He wasn't like her. He wasn't a child of shadow.

"Yuffie. Do you really think you have the power to make me do anything I do not want to do?" Sora said, his face serious.

"Well, no not really. You are a god in human skin when it comes to straight up power." She answered.

"Yuffie, the truth is, I think you are the most amazing person I know" Sora said warmly.

Yuffie gasped at his kind words. "N-no, you're just saying that. That's the sex talking."

"The sex wouldn't have happened unless I already thought so. Ever since I met you, I have admired your free spirit. You don't let anyone guide your actions or thoughts. You always live your own life and face all your problems without flinching. When you started teaching me, I was stoked. I learned so much from you, unique ways of looking at things and facing problems. There is no one I look up to more than you, and no one that I think is more beautiful than you. The truth is Yuffie, after a while, my eyes turned to you. The truth is, I may like Kairi but I can't see a fun life with her. The truth is, Yuffie, I lo-"

Sora was interrupted by Yuffie covering his mouth with her hand.

"Stop Sora. Please, just, stop" she said, tears falling down her cheeks. Sora stopped and let her speak.

"I am no good for you. You are the most amazing, most passionate person I know. You don't just do the right thing, you do the right thing ALL the time. Your conviction is unwavering. Your light, it's blinding in it's glow, so powerful it is. So powerful you are. But I am of the shadow. I have done terrible things. Where I come from, I've had to kill, I've had to lie and cheat, I've had to deceive. Sometimes it was to survive, sometimes it was just because. I am unclean. I am darkness. You are light. You belong with light. You belong with Kairi. I can not, and will not get in the way of that."

"Yuffie please just listen-"

"No. No, I can't. I wasn't supposed to show you how I felt. This isn't how it was supposed to go. I'm sorry Sora. Maybe we shouldn't see each other for a while." Yuffie said, standing up.

"Yuffie I love you!" Sora shouted, but before he finished getting the words out, Yuffie had vanished.

Sora sat back on his knees, and looked into the dark sky. It was lit by the ongoing party below, the lights he chose making sure there wasn't a speck of shadow down there. He let tears well up in his eyes, and beckoned them to fall freely.

"Okay Sifu. I'll stay in the light, if that is what you truly wish. But I will never stop looking into the dark, hoping to catch a glimpse of you."

With that, Sora bowed his head, and sat kneeled. He was motionless for over an hour, after a while simply staring out into the dark abyss of a sky.

* * *

**-The Present-**

"...had sex" Yuffie said, remembering fondly that night that broke her for most other partners.

Sora blushed, but his expression was quickly overtaken by melancholy.

"But you avoided me after that. I thought I did something wrong. Even if we crossed a line, you were still my Sifu, one of my best friends. You left me...I had no choice but to follow your wishes. I looked for you, but you were never there. I felt you, in my heart. I gave a piece of it to you that night. But you left me all alone. I wanted you Yuffie. I just wanted you" He said, crying now.

Yuffie felt her heart well and truly break apart at the sight of Sora crying. She knew she was the cause of his grief. At the time she really believed she was sparing Sora heartache by avoiding him, but it seems as if all that did was make it worse.

"Sora I...I want you too" Yuffie said, against all of her better judgment.

Sora looked at her in hopeful surprise. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" Yuffie asked.

"Don't give me hope" Sora said, a brokenness to his voice.

Yuffie couldn't bear it any longer. "Look, I made a mistake. I would have loved to go exclusive with you. I just honestly believed that Kairi was better for you in the long run. But, I guess the situations changed. She hates you and you aren't mister goodie two shoes anymore. You have darkness in you, too. Maybe not the same as mine, but you aren't just light anymore. What do I always say to do when the situation changes?"

"To...adapt and change with it" Sora said.

"You know, for all we did that night, what's the one thing we didn't do?" She asked, eyes half open and seductive.

"We didn't...wow, we didn't even kiss" Sora realized.

"That was intentional. And so is this."

Yuffie reached up and kissed Sora, exploding his senses into a show of longing satisfied and love returned. Sora returned the kiss with gusto, and before long they were both naked and embracing. They made love, miles up in the air on an unstable dilapidated building that was falling apart.

* * *

Elsewhere, Aqua was getting a sit-rep from Leon.

"By god I'm glad at least one of you decided to take this seriously. Listen, the situation is bad. You would think that with the most evil bad guy ever gone, the darkness would cut us a break. But that's not the case. Before the darkness was organized, almost orderly. Without someone to properly command it, the darkness has become feral. It is wild, and much more savage. Where before they worked towards a goal which focused the damage, now they are aimless and lash out indiscriminately. The damage has been catastrophic. They are ripping worlds apart without even going into the hearts of them. Luckily, we have been able to pinpoint certain worlds that have an unusual amount of darkness concentration. I believe if we can purge these sources of darkness, we will be able to stem the darkness considerably. We need to address this issue immediately, as every moment wasted is a moment darkness destroys" Leon finished. He face was serious, almost pale.

Aqua had been following along just fine, and realized what those concentrations of darkness may be. "I believe those points of concentration might be worlds that have a direct link to the Realm of Darkness. There is no other explanation for the spike in darkness."

"That makes sense. Darkness isn't exclusive, it doesn't play favorites. Those places may just have a closer tie to the Realm of Darkness, and by virtue of that just have more darkness. But still, the result is darkness pours out of those links in waves. We have to find a way to seal them. And as usual, I'll wager only the keyblade has any hope of properly sealing them." Leon said.

"You would have wagered correctly. Keyblade Masters can seal these gateways that lead to the darkness. By patching these holes the Darkness should be much more manageable in the surrounding areas." Aqua explained.

"Okay, then there is hope. How soon can you guys be on your way? You can take any supplies you need from downtown, just have Sora use the membership card he has for the Restoration Committee" Leon said.

"Whenever Sora comes back, we can leave right away" Aqua said.

As if on cue, Sora came through the hole in the wall with Yuffie holding onto his arm for support. Once more, Sora had left her unable to walk properly and once more, Lonely Island's 'I Just Had Sex' was playing in the background, faintly.

'How the fuck is that song playing, there aren't any speakers!' Yuffie thought she was losing her sanity.

"Well, glad you could finally join us lover boy" Leon said flatly.

"Meg?"

"What?"

"Never mind. Anyway, what's going on?" Sora asked.

"Aqua can tell you the specifics. Basically, worlds in danger. Some worlds in more danger than others. Help out the worlds that are worse off, and it may help the other worlds as well. Get it?"

"Got it!"

"Good. When can you leave? You can resupply in town with your membership card."

"I don't see any reason to wait. I feel great" Sora beamed.

"Yeah yeah we all heard the song. Jesus. Yuffie, we need to update security measures" Leon said.

"Actuallyyyyy" Yuffie started.

"Jesus, why." Leon said with a face palm.

"I guess you can say I'ma just following my heart" Yuffie giggled.

"Fine. At least be useful and don't just fuck around. This is serious." Leon said sternly.

"Heheh, why can't I do both?" Yuffie said with a grin.

"Yuffie!" Leon said, head vein bulging.

"Alright alright, for fuck's sake I'll be good" Yuffie conceeded.

"Thank you, christ."

"A good little slut! HAAHAHAAHAHA" Yuffie laughed as she ran off to pack,

Aqua walked up to Sora and gave him a tight hug.

"Welcome back. The situations pretty dire" Aqua said.

"Hey lovely! Yeah, there's no mistaking things are pretty bad. But all we need is a direction. Point me to it, and I'll do my best to help" Sora replied with a smile.

"We both will" Aqua said, kissing him gently.

"We third will!" Yuffie said, skipping along toward the duo.

"No way you're coming too?" Sora said, happy at the prospect.

"I think I came more than you did, but also yes I am tagging along. I want to be close to you, and I want to be useful in this fight against the darkness. It just so happens I can do both of those things by tagging alone. So I sure as hell will!" Yuffie said, kissing Sora.

"Yes! Awesome! Oh, Aqua, I hope you don't mind. Yuffie wants to come along, and I really want her to come as well. Is that okay?" Sora asked.

"I am as you want me to be. Just say it and I will abide gladly" Aqua said.

"Well, okay then. Yuffie will be joining us. She will be very useful, and she is also a very special person to me" Sora stated.

Aqua turned to Yuffie and pulled her into a hug. "I hope we get along wonderfully and help Sora save the World."

Yuffie was a little surprised by the physical contact from Aqua, but got over it pretty quickly. She didn't want to assume, but by Aqua's mannerisms Yuffie was beginning to think she was some kind of religious zealot for Sora. But, at least she was friendly enough.

"Yeah lets save the World, what does this make, four times now boss" She said, poking Sora's cheek.

"More or less" Sora replied.

"It'll be 'more' if you guys keep dragging your feet. " Leon said, clearly annoyed that they were just standing around. "I hate relying on other people, if I could do something more trust me I would. But where there's smoke, there's fire. The longer a fire is left unchecked, the more catches ablaze. Get it?"

"Got it!" Sora said with a salute.

"Good."

"Oh yeah, one more thing Leon. We may have a clue on how to better fight the darkness. What can you tell us about a heart of pure gold?" Sora asked, remembering the hint Wonder dropped him.

Leon paused while he thought about it. "A heart of pure gold...the only thing I know about something like that, is from a world called Vishnu's Domain. It is an ancient world and it is very distant. Not many people have ever ventured there, and even fewer have returned. The little bit of information that has made it back talks about a balance, an avatar of some sort, and a heart of pure gold. That is the only thing I know about it. I can have Cid send you the last known coordinates of that world, if that is where you want to start your search."

"Alright, well I think it's as good a place as any to start. We will stop by any planets along the way if we think they may be linked to the Darkness." Aqua said.

"It all sounds like a plan! We will wait for Cid to get to us on the ship. See ya Leon and thanks!" Sora said, Yuffie hoping on his back while giggling.

Leon sighed as the three heros walked out through the hole in the wall. "This is going to be a long adventure."

* * *

Wonder floated on through space, never minding the lack of oxygen or freezing darkness. She was her own light, and at the moment she was glowing with a warm radiance. All was well and peaceful for her as she took in creation. But the calm and serenity was not to last.

Something heavier than a black hole slammed into wonder, making her crash in one way and out the other through two planets before finally losing enough momentum for her to stop. She found herself gripped by the base of the neck. As she regained her wits, a familiar voice creeped into her ears.

"_**My lovely, insolent Child. Why do you bring your mother such woe?**_" KH said, firmly holding Wonder down.

"_**Mother! What a fucking pleasure to see you again! DO tell, find any tasty cum while I wa-**_"

Wonder was cut off by a right hook that sent her flying for over ten light-years. She was stopped when she met with KH's knee and gripped once again at the base of her neck.

"_**Me dammit Aty-Adbhuta! You will show me proper respect!**_" KH seethed.

"_**Oh but I am having so much fun! I WONDER how much pain you can dish out before I die! HAHAHAHA**_" Wonder laughed out like a mad woman.

"_**Oh, why must you take after your Father**_" KH sighed.

At the mention of her father, something snapped in Wonder and she started to vehemently struggle against KH, while screaming all manner of wondrous profanities. With a wave of her hand however, KH sowed Wonder's mouth shut with invisible thread.

"_**Much better. Now tell me, why did you give Sora that vision? For one that hates when someone intervenes in other people's free will, you really stuck your nose in his business. Left alone, his vision would have been his reality, but instead you showed him what would happen if he allowed his rage to consume him. Sounds an awful lot like meddling**_" KH spoke, her voice the most condescending ever.

'_I showed him what would be. If he decided to not go through with those actions, that was also his own choice' _Wonder thought to KH.

"_**Of course. There is always some loophole, isn't there? No matter. I want you to follow Kairi. She is the weaker of the two. Once you take the power she holds, Sora should be a much easier fight. Now, go you mistake of a child.**_"

KH shoved Wonder hard, sending a ball of silver and gold careening through the cosmos towards Kairi's general direction. KH turned away and moved to go about her business but not before Wonder got a final insult in.

'_At least my father could clean up his own fuckin' mess!'_


	9. The Wise Stranger

Finally to the first world of the story. This world has alot of content, so I'm going to more or less pick and choose how I want to run it. Expect some things to be changed but if anything is too confusing just shoot me a PM and I'll explain it for you. Thanks to those of you who Fav and Followed my story, it feels nice knowing other people are enjoying the story at least a little bit. Heartless make a proper comeback in this world, but not quite yet. Enjoy!

* * *

Sora Aqua and Yuffie were currently flying through space. They had just left Radiant Garden after they restocked on supplies. They got word from Cid about the coordinates for Vishnu's Domain, and had been on their way since. Yuffie and Sora spent much of the time catching up, with Aqua sharing things as well. All around, the trio had pleasant conversation and a smooth ride.

That all changed when the ships alarms started going off loudly. Sora rushed to the center console and read the 'abnormal gravity' alert that was flashing on the screen.

"What does it say? Aqua asked.

"Abnormal gravity, but I don't know what that means. I've never encountered that before" Sora responded.

"Oh boy. It means we are in for a rough landing. Whatever planet we are close to right now, it's gravitational axis is fucked and it is going to pull us really hard on entry, which we are now too close to stop. Brace yourselves!" Yuffie shouted.

"These are the coordinates for Vishnu's domain. This has to be it!" Sora yelled over the groaning of the ship as it was forced into the planet's atmosphere.

The ship was helplessly pulled down into the sky, and easily caught fire as it fell. Eventually it crashed into an ocean, and while damaged did not break apart. Sora Aqua and Yuffie had been rendered unconscious during the fall due to the immense G-forces. The last thing Sora felt before passing out was the familiar auto-spell he had cast on him that changes him and his party to match the world they were in.

* * *

A young bald boy sat lotus position under the night sky. He wore orange robes with brown and white accents, and light blue arrows ran along his limbs and the top of his head. His eyes were shut, and his breathing even. Suddenly, his closed eyes snapped open and a bright glow shone from them. In his mind he saw a vision of a young man with brown hair and black robes much like his own in style wielding fire earth water and air in his hands. He saw the young mans eyes, one shining bright white and the other having pure darkness coming from it. He saw this being sending darkness below him, making it spread to consume the entire world as the light in his other eye slowly receded until it was just as black as the other.

The young boy's eyes snapped shut once more and when he reopened them the light was gone and replaced with worried grey iris'.

"No, there's no way the world can fall to darkness. I don't even know what this is supposed to mean, or who that guy is!" he said.

"Aang?" came a voice from behind him.

The voice came from a beautiful young woman with brown skin and long chocolate hair. She wore blue robes with a blue necklace. Her blue eyes looked into his grey with concern.

"Aang are you okay? I noticed you entered the avatar state briefly, but you seem very worried. Did you see something?" she asked.

"Sorry Katara, it's probably nothing. Just weird visions and whatnot." Aang said.

"Okay. Look, I know you're still very worried about Appa, so maybe your mind is messing with you. Why don't you come back inside? It doesn't seem as if you'll get any meditation done tonight." Katara offered.

"Alright" Aang said. "But tomorrow we are gonna put up posters for Appa, I just know he has to be here."

"Of course Aang" Katara said.

The two of them walked back inside of a grandiose green and brown mini mansion provided to them by their hosts. Aang couldn't shake the feeling of dread he felt about his vision, and decided he would ask avatar Roku when he got the chance.

* * *

Sora stirred awake and immediately realized how hot he felt. He tried to get up but was stopped by chains and shackles. He curiously looked around to take stock of his situation. The walls were a black steel adorned with red flags that all had a black swirl of fire in the center. It was dark and the room was large, so he channeled light behind his eyes to better see. He saw Aqua and Yuffie strung up as well, though they were still unconscious. They appeared unharmed. He felt the sway of the floor beneath him, and realized they were on the ocean, so they must be in a ship. The metal door opening loudly stopped his thoughts as he waited for someone to step in.

Heavy footsteps echoed against the metal floor. Sora saw that they belonged to a young woman who entered into the room. She was gorgeous he had to admit, and she wore red and black medium armor with golden trim. Her hair was put up in a high knot with two long bangs framing her face. Her eyes were sharp and calculating and he felt himself getting sized up by this woman.

"Leave the room and close the door, I want to talk to our prisoners alone" she said.

Sora didn't see anyone else in the room, but the door shut behind her as she continued her walk towards him.

"Do you know who I am?" the woman asked.

"Uh, not really no. Am I supposed to?" Sora asked.

"Yes, you definitely should. I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, daughter of Fire Lord Ozai" Azula stated proudly.

"Never heard of ya" Sora said, trying to see where this was going.

"Your disrespect is not cute, you trash" Azula said, bringing her fist to Sora's face which held a dark blue flame.

Sora looked at the flame and figured he was not in a position to be rude, so he tried a different approach.

"My apologies your highness. I am simply a traveler who ended up ship wrecked. I seem to be out of touch with the times." Sora said.

"Just a traveller you say? Tell me, what kind of traveller has robes as fine as yours and your companions?" she asked, her fist no longer in Sora's face.

Sora took this moment to look at what he was wearing in more detail. He was clothed in a fine black silk robe and sash with baggy pants underneath. The black was trimmed with a silver lining and his hair was more tame though still spiky. He noticed on his chest his robe had a golden crown symbol.

He looked to Aqua and saw her in robes of matching quality, but hers were blue with black trim. Her hair was longer and tied into a french braid. Over her chest was the same crown as his, only black.

He looked to Yuffie and her attire was very different. She had short black tights. Her top was a loose fitting purple kimono with mesh armor underneath. He chuckled at her stereotypical ninja outfit, complete with a long and loose ponytail.

"Is something funny? Because I'd love to hear a good joke" Azula said, drawing his attention back to her.

"Look I don't want any trouble, just let us go and we will be on our way" Sora said.

"Do you think I'm some fool? You could be a spy, an enemy. I don't even know what country you hail from, as it certainly isn't fire nation since you don't even know about me. Unless, you do and you're lying. There is no way you don't know what is going on. So, last chance, tell me the truth. Or else" Azula said, moving over to the unconscious Yuffie and making a blade a blue fire extend from her fist. She held up the flame to Yufie's neck in a clear threat.

Sora was put off by how intense Azula was being, but decided he was done entertaining her. In the blink of an eye Sora dashed forward instantly breaking his bindings and kicked Azula in the chest, sending her into the wall. He freed Yuffie and Aqua and threw them over his back. He looked to the metal wall and placed a hand on it. As Azula was recovering and got back on her feet, she saw Sora tear away the metal as if it were paper and jump into the sea below. She rushed to the hole and saw Sora riding a wave while standing on it. He then gathered aero magic in his free palm and shot it out behind him for a boost, getting far away from the ship.

Azula stood there baffled at what she had saw. To her, it looked like this man was the Avatar. But she knew that was impossible, the Avatar was a young air monk, not a handsome young man that impressed her with his speed and power. Despite what she knew, she could not deny the fact that she witnessed him using at least two elements which was only possible for the Avatar. She could not ignore this. She rushed to her quarters and wrote a message to send to the fire Lord containing her discovery. She tied it to a messenger hawk and sent it on its way. She ordered repairs for the wall, and decided to talk to her two friends about this, She found them lounging about in the common area.

"Mai, Ty-Lee, I believe I have some interesting news concerning the Avatar."

* * *

Sora made landfall at last, and gently laid Aqua and Yuffie down on the beach. They hadn't woken up yet, and he was beginning to get concerned. He looked around and decided to try and find some people, maybe a village so he could settle down and get his bearings. He tried to cast an ice spell with the intent of making a makeshift cart to hull his two partners, but found he could not form ice at all. He felt the pull on his mana, but it was as if his mana was confused on what he wanted it to do. He looked to the water, and tried to use it as a medium. It worked, and he was able to pull and shape the water. He then blew on it to freeze it so it would hold form. He loaded Aqua and Yuffie onto it and pulled the cart along.

After several hours of travel Sora noticed a giant stone wall, with buildings peaking over it. He headed toward the large city in hopes of finally catching a break.

* * *

Aang woke up to the sun on his face, shining through the window. He jumped out of bed and gently floated down. He stretched out his hand towards a brown staff leaning against the wall and it flew into his palm. He was already dressed and he exited his room to find his group waiting for him in the living room. There was the young woman from last night, Katara, sitting on a chair. She was with her brother, Sokka, painting lost posters for Appa. Sokka wore a light blue shirt and pants with a weapons pouch that held his boomerang. He had a short ponytail with the sides of his head shaved almost clean. Aang looked at the posters and grimaced.

"Uh guys, Appa doesn't have four horns."

"Hey! Those are his front legs! It looks just like him don't dis the artist." Sokka said in defense of his drawing.

Just then, another person burst through the door. It was a short girl with a unique jellyfish hairstyle. She wore greens of every kind and had no shoes on. She was quite pretty but covered in dirt and her eyes were fogged over.

"Alright I have the print outs for Appa!" she declared.

"Hey! I thought we were going to use my paintings to save money, what's wrong with them?" Sokka said.

"Look I sent Toph to go get proper flyers so we could save time and have a more...accurate picture" Katara said.

"Awww. Toph, you don't think mine look that bad do you?" Sokka asked.

"No I think they look great!" Toph said.

"See Toph thinks-wait a minute. You're blind! URGHH" Sokka yelled in frustration.

Aang chuckled at his friends' expense, while Toph handed him the flyers.

"Thanks Toph, they came out great. I'm going to go ahead and start putting these up. Split up to cover more ground?" Aang said.

"Sure thing Aang" Katara agreed, getting up and grabbing some flyers from him.

"I'll help too" Toph said, her hand reaching out to grab some flyers.

"Uh won't you just put them upside down?" Aang asked.

In response, Toph grabbed a few flyers and lined them up along the wall properly.

"If you hand them to me straight, I can just put them up without worrying about whether or not they are upside down" she explained.

"Fair enough. Alright, let's go!" Aang said.

They all left the house and went separate ways to put up posters.

* * *

Sora made it to the outer city gates. He noticed the giant steel drill poking out from the side, but didn't pay it much more mind than that. As he approached the gate, two guards held up their weapons to stop him.

"Halt. State your business" one of the guards said.

"My name is Sora. I've travelled from far away, and my two friends are in poor health. I'm here to find some help for them" Sora said.

"Hm. Alright, but be mindful of your step. Speak nothing of anything you've seen outside these walls." The other guard spoke, giving a meaningful look to the drill.

"No problem, just tell me where the nearest doctor is please." Sora begged.

"The best doctors are in the upper ring of the city. If you can afford it, they can cure any sickness in the world." the first guard said.

The two guards signalled up, and the wall opened to let Sora inside. Once inside, Sora noticed that the city was divided into rings. The middle ring, where he was. The upper ring, where he wanted to be. And the lower ring, which he didn't really want to worry himself about. A woman in fine robes and a bright smile walked up to Sora and greeted him.

"Hello! Welcome to Ba Sing Se, the greatest city in the world! What brings you to this great city?" she asked.

"I just want to find the best doctor you have." Sora said.

"Oh, well the best doctors are reserved only for Upper Ring status citizens. You are free to explore middle and lower ring medical practices." she said.

"What? That's ridiculous! I need the best because nothing I've done has worked so far. Stop messing with me!" Sora shot back, annoyed.

"Sir please, these are rules here" the woman said.

"Well your rules are stupid! I'm going to the upper ring" Sora said pushing past her, carrying his friends along.

As Sora marched on, the woman tried to dissuade him from going on. This was the scene Toph walked upon as she was putting up posters. She was a blind earth bender, and she used the vibrations things give off through the ground to more or less see where everything was around her. She paused in confusion when she felt something that felt heavy. She focused and found it was a man. His steps were causing way more vibrations than someone his height and build should be causing. She noticed the woman behind him, and felt the woman's hands move in a gesture behind her back. She felt a tremor from the ground on either side of the man and 'saw' two people in armor burrowing through the ground. The woman must have called the guards.

"Look lady I don't care I only care about my friends and getting them better!" Sora yelled at the woman, completely fed up with her.

Sora then felt the ground beneath him shake and from either side of him exploded two guards.

"You are under arrest. Do not resist." one guard spoke.

Toph wondered what the heavy man would do now. She felt two women in the weird cart he was pulling, and heard him say he was concerned about his friends. She didn't know why, but she didn't feel like letting the guards arrest this man.

"This is your one and only warning. Leave me be, or I will end you and anyone who dares to get in the way of my friends health" Sora said with malice.

The guards chuckled. "Do you really think some punk is gonna scare us? This is our city, you and your friends are nothing in the face of it" one guard spoke.

Time seemed to slow down for Toph as she observed what happened next. The guard that last spoke reached for one of the women in the cart. She felt the heavy man shift his heel, and saw the earth give way to a sharp pike. The pike raised up from the earth and was headed directly for the guards exposed face. Having no doubt the attack would skewer the guard, Toph quickly made a split decision to save the guards life by throwing him on the ground with her earth bending. It all happened in less than a second. The other guard saw the pike that just missed his partner and decided to take this seriously, calling for backup.

The standing guard bid the earth to snake around Sora's ankles to hold him in place, but Sora's pull on the earth was stronger. As the rock wrapped around his ankle Sora ordered it to keep slithering up his body and encased his fists in it. Toph could not believe what she was seeing. This person was able to take control of another benders bending! She was amazed, and decided to help the heavy man to avoid what would likely be a bloodbath.

Stomping firmly on the ground, Toph buried the two guards whole, along with the woman that had called them. She bound them underground, leaving air for them to breath. Sora looked directly at her because he felt the weird mana thing coming from her. He felt something else as well but before he had a chance to even address her twenty guards rose from the ground and surrounded them.

Sora looked around at all the guards and got very tense. His breathing began to pick up and his hands tightened, locking themselves into half fists. Toph noticed the heavy man get a lot heavier, the shear weight of the strain he was putting on the earth around him made her dizzy.

What appeared to be a supervisor stepped forward and addressed Sora.

"You are charged with breaking the traditional values of this city and assaulting two officers. You are to come with us immediately. Do not resist." the large man spoke, his golden armor reflecting the sun.

"I need to get my friends to a doctor, they aren't waking up. Why do you all insist on stopping me from seeing a doctor? If I can't find the best doctor I won't be able to help my friends. My friends might die! Do you want my friends to die!?" Sora screamed at the man. His whole body was coiled as tightly as it could be, the earth under him trembling.

"Don't worry, your friends will be coming along with you. In chains!" the man said.

An image of Yuffie and Aqua bound in chains and unconscious surrounded by perverse prison guards filled Sora's mind, and he lost it.

Sora slammed his fists into the ground, which instantly caused spikes to impale all twenty men. He then stepped forward with a twist and brought his arms apart from his center forcefully, which caused the spike in each guard to branch out smaller spikes while inside them. The result was twenty butchered men dead before they could let out a scream.

The people around Sora screamed in terror and hysteria as they ran about after the display. Toph was shaken at the brutality. But despite her fear of this heavy man, she felt she needed to help him out. She could gain him access to the Upper Ring and it's doctors due to her status. She nervously walked up to the man, calling out to him.

"Hey mister!"

Sora turned to her voice, and he saw a cute girl who looked like she was trying to be braver than she actually was. Realizing what he had done, Sora had to hold back the vomit. He had brutally murdered 20 people...but...his friends needed help. They still needed help.

"Hello. My name is Sora, who are you?" he said.

"I am Toph Beifong. They worlds best earth bender. Or, at least I thought I was. I was watching you the whole time and buried those guards so you wouldn't kill them. I guess twenty is better than twenty-two huh" Toph said, chuckling nervously.

"I...I am sorry you had to see this." Sora said, regret filling his voice.

"Hey, you just want to get your friends to a top notch doc right? Besides, I can't see much of anything, I'm blind!" Toph said.

"Y-yeah, I can heal but I can't find anything wrong with them and they won't wake up. Can you help?" Sora asked, hopeful.

"Well I do know a really good healer who can do more than most quacks I've seen. I can take you to her, if you agree to behave" Toph said.

"Okay. Please,I-I'll be good. Help my friends, and I will be in your debt." Sora begged.

"Let's go, before more goons show up" Toph instructed and the two of them left toward Toph's place to wait for Katara.

As they left, a hidden man observed the scene in silence. He had much to report to his master.

* * *

Sora arrived at the mini mansion with Toph. He had laid Aqua and Yuffie on beds so they would be more comfortable. Toph decided to learn more about this strange and powerful man while they waited for Katara to arrive.

"So, that was some top notch bending back there. How did you wrestle control of the earth from that one guard? I've never seen that before. Definitely not in earth bending" Toph started.

"I don't really get it, what do you mean by 'bending'? I just used earth magic to fight them all." Sora said.

"Magic? There isn't really any magic to it. I felt you move, you commanded the earth to move and it did, that's what earth bending is all about. Facing it head on and telling it who's boss."

"Bending huh? Maybe that's how mana works around here then?"

"Mana? Where are you from? How do you not know about bending, despite clearly be good at it?"

"I'm...not from around here. Can everyone here bend then?"

"No not everyone. The ability to bend is something you are born with, and there are four different elements to bend. Earth, fire, water, and air"

"People can only use one? But what if someone could use more than one?"

"Nah that's impossible."

"Well, I can use more than one."

Sora then demonstrated his ability by making some rock fire and a ball of air circle around his palm.

"I can do water too, but it seems I need to have a source first" he said.

Toph froze in disbelief. She could feel the rock and fire in his palm, and heard the whirling sound of the wind ball.

"That shouldn't be possible. Only the Avatar can bend all four elements! Who are you?" Toph said, alarmed at there being someone so powerful.

"Well like I said, the name's Sora. Is it bad that I can do that? I've always been able to do it, and I can also control other elements as well."

"O-other elements? Like what exactly?"

"Well sticking with earth, I can control anything that comes from or contains elements of earth. Metal, sand, magma, for example."

"Okay, I draw the line at metal bending. No avatar in history has been able to bend metal."

"Well it's a matter of perspective. I learned this while training, everything is connected. If you quite yourself you can listen to the vibrations in metal. Metal comes from the earth, it is an extension of the earth. It's just rocks hard core older brother. But if you respect it, and tell it what you want-" Sora picked up a nearby metal plate and shaped it into a bird "-it will respond."

Toph was amazed at Sora and his explanation.

"I had always thought that metal is just harder earth, but I never tried to take it to the next step. What if…" Toph said, picking up the bird and concentrating on it.

She tried to feel for the earth. She tapped her finger on the bird to search for the vibrations. After a few taps, she found them. She called to it and the metal responded. She smirked triumphantly, and shaped the bird into a badger mole.

"Oh hell to the yes." she said in excitement.

Sora was extremely impressed with Toph. She had only needed to hear the concept and got it on her first try.

"Whoa that's so cool! You must be like a prodigy or something!" Sora said, unable to contain his awe.

"Yeah something like that. I'm all pumped up now. We should have a sparring match!" Toph said.

Before Sora could answer Toph's challenge the front door was opened and in came Aang Katara and Sokka.

"Ugh I can't believe they wouldn't let me put the posters up! I need to find Appa!" Aang bemoaned.

"I'm sure we will find a way. Don't worry Aang." Katara said trying to placate him. She looked over to where Toph was sitting and noticed an unfamiliar face. "Oh, and who is this Toph? Made a new friend?"

"Hey guys! This is Sora, I met him in town while I was putting up the posters. He is super badass!" Toph introduced.

"Hi, I'm Sora." Sora said simply.

"Well hello, my name is Aang. This is Katara, and this is Sokka. Why are you here?" Aang asked, clearly annoyed.

"Don't mind him, we just lost a really good friend recently. It's really hard on all of us." Katara quickly said.

"I understand. In fact, I'm here because my own friends need help. I came to the city looking for the best doctor I could find, and I ran into Toph. She said she knew the best doctor around so I followed her here." Sora said. He then looked to Aang with compassion. "Aang I would do anything for my friends. If something were to happen to them, I would never be the same. After my friends get seen I would be glad to help you find your missing friend."

Aang looked at Sora as tears started to form in his eyes. "But I've looked everywhere. I can't find him. I don't even know if he's...if he's still…" Aang struggled to get the words out, but Sora walked over and hugged him.

"It's okay. It's going to be okay." Sora reassured him.

Aang took a moment to collect himself in Sora's embrace. Wiping his eyes, he smiled at Sora and turned to Katara.

"Katara, would you mind looking at Sora's friends then?" Aang asked.

"Of course not. Let's go." she said.

Toph led them to the bedroom where Aqua and Yuffie lay. Katara drew some water from her canteen and used it to scan their bodies with her bending. She looked closely at everything but couldn't find anything physically wrong with them. She triple checked before finally giving up and sighing.

"I'm sorry Sora, but I just can't find anything physically wrong with them. The only thing I can sense is a slight blockage in their chakras, but it's so small it's probably nothing." Katara said.

"Chakra? What is a chakra? What does this mean?" Sora pleaded, alarmed that his friends might never wake up.

"If it's a chakra issue, maybe I should take a look. I am the Avatar, the bridge between the spirit world and the physical world. I can check if there is something wrong with their spirits." Aang offered.

"Please anything you think that will help do it" Sora said.

"Alright. Give me some space." Aang said.

As the others took a few steps away from him he sat on the floor. He sat lotus position and put his hands on his lap. He took a deep breath, and relaxed. Within minutes, his tattoos started to glow and he was in the spirit world.

"Why is he glowing?" Sora asked.

"The glow is because he is the Avatar. It signifies when he is accessing his powers. This must mean he successfully made it to the spirit world. All we can do now is wait." Katara said.

"Well seeing as he might be awhile, why don't you and I get that sparring match in huh Big Foot? Might help you work out some of that tension." Toph asked Sora.

"Big Foot? Why do I get such an uncool name?" Sora asked with a pout.

"Well I don't know what it is, but when you step you send a ton of vibrations through the earth. A lot more than regular people. Thus, Big Foot!" Toph said laughing and throwing her hands in the air.

"Know what, I'll wear it with pride, and you're on!" Sora said.

"I'll stay here and watch for Aang. I'll get you when something happens." Sokka said. He was skeptical of any new comer, but decided to keep to himself for most of this time.

"Well if you're gonna watch Aang I'll join in on the spar. Things have been pretty stressful lately, and I could use a good throw down." Katara said, looking forward to the competition.

"Alright, off we go!" Toph said, leading the way to the expansive backyard.

* * *

As they made it outside, Toph pulled Sora down and whispered into his ear.

"Hey, try to stick to just earth bending. I know you don't understand, but people would freak if they saw you using more than one element."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it" Sora replied.

"So Sora, what kind of bender are you anyway?" Katara asked.

In response he kicked up a piece of earth and hurled it toward Katara. Katara took some water from a nearby pond and sliced the rock in two avoiding it.

"Less talky more action!" Toph yelled. She then hopped up and rammed her hands into the ground causing pieces of earth to shoot up and spun with a sumo stomp to the ground flinging all the pieces of earth at Sora and Katara.

Katara ducked and weaved around the rocks while Sora used the dust in the air to harden his skin and break the rocks as they impacted him. Katara froze the ground to try and blind Toph, and Toph was caught off guard. Toph tripped and fell cursing the entire way down. Toph slam hard into the ice and called to the earth underneath, making it rise and shatter the ice around her. Sora softened the dirt below Katara and caused her to sink rapidly. Katara was able to pull herself out and threw dozens of ice needles towards Sora in response. Toph also took this chance to hurl dozens of stone spears at Sora.

Sora saw the incoming projectiles and decided to turn things up a notch. He reached out with his hands for the incoming attacks. He felt for the mana infused in the ice and stone, and over powered that mana with his own. The ice needles hit his right palm, but they did not harm him and as they gathered the ice took the form of a sword. The earth spears impacted his left palm, but as the ice did the earth harmed nothing and clumped together to form and sturdy shield.

Katara was stunned and baffled. "How did you do that! Did you just water bend?"

Toph shot an alarmed look in Sora's general direction and Sora realized the mistake he had made. He quickly thought up of something to say.

"Well uh no, that'd be silly I'm an earth bender. There's just uh...there's pieces of rock! In the water. The pond water is filled with little minerals and dirt. I was able to manipulate those. The water is just along for the ride." Sora tried to sell.

Katara looked on with accusation before she relented. "Wow, I didn't even know you could do that. Sora must be an even better bender than you Toph!"

'She bought that?!' Sora and Toph both thought at the same time.

Katara then dropped the water from the pond and pulled the water from her personal canteen. She shaped the water into a spear and hardened it into the coldest and hardest ice she could muster. Toph, noticing what Katara was about to do, drew up some earth and willed it into a giant two-handed hammer.

"You won't be able to take control of my spear since my canteen's water is completely pure." Katara said. She then dashed to Sora followed by Toph who was laughing the entire way.

Sora blocked Toph's wild hammer swings and parried Katara's precise spear thrusts. Individually they were sloppy but together they covered each other enough to be a hassle. Sora decided to really put them to the test, as the constant movement finally got him warmed up. The two ladies were panting and jumped back to catch their breath. Sora took this chance to press them.

He dashed towards Katara and got in her guard. It should have been impossible for her to respond with such a long weapon, but Katara pulled some water from the spears handle and made a small ice blade which gave her just enough to block Sora's swing. He still managed to swing hard enough to push her back a good amount.

"Whoa I am impressed you improvised so quickly! You're really something Katara." Sora offered in praise.

"Hey don't forget about me!" Toph yelled, throwing herself at Sora.

Toph let her hammer drag on the ground as she approached Sora, making it pick up mass as it added earth onto itself. By the time she got to Sora her hammer was a giant and terrible thing, and she swung with all her bending might at Sora. Sora looked at it approach with a chuckle. As it made contact with his face, he moved his head away from it. He kept so close that he could feel the hammer on his cheek but still evaded the swing by a hair's breadth. Toph did not feel the resistance she was expected and the swing carried her through too much. It spun her and she flew off to the side.

"What the hell! I hit you!" she yelled at him.

"I waited until the last possible moment to dodge. It creates the illusion in your brain that you hit me, but in reality you didn't actually connect any force to me." Sora explained, smiling at Toph's frustration.

"AARGGH!" Toph screamed. She launched herself at Sora with an earth covered fist reared back and ready to strike.

Sora simply caught her and threw her directly into Katara, who was sneaking up behind him with her spear. He then bended some nearby trees and used their bark to create shackles to hold them down.

"Do you yield?" he asked plainly.

"Fuck you Big Foot!" was Toph's response.

"I think she means to say, yes we yield" Katara said, blushing at her friends profanity.

Sora laughed light-heartedly and let them go.

"Wow you are an amazing bender. And your mastery of earth is profound, I've never seen anything like it before. You can bend anything with earth?" Katara said, dusting herself and sitting to catch her breath.

"Yup. I've always had this talent really" Sora replied.

"So, what's the craziest thing you think you could bend?" Toph said in excitement. She figured if he could do it, she could too. She just didn't know everything that had earth in it.

"Hmm. I guess the most taboo thing I could think to bend, would be the iron in people's blood." Sora said.

Katara went green at the thought of that. "You could bend the iron inside of people? That's insane. And kind of dark. "

"Whoa I didn't even know there was iron in people! " Toph said.

"There's all kinds of small traces of metals and minerals inside humans. I think it'd be pretty difficult but I could probably do it." he said.

"Wait, with that logic, shouldn't I be able to control the blood inside of people?" Katara said, disgusted but still curious.

"Actually, yeah, sure that makes sense. There's a lot more blood in people too, and most of it is made up of liquid, so it should be even easier than what I would have to do. I guess if you really had to, you could blood bend." he said.

"I have got to try that out" Toph said, receiving a stern look from Katara. "What I won't do it unless a really have to don't worry!"

"At any rate, you guys did great in that fight. I noticed you two ganged up on me near the end there. Smart move." Sora said.

"Well it was clear you were the greatest threat. It was the logical choice, especially since you didn't even break a sweat." Katara said, with Toph nodding in agreement.

"Heh heh, well it's okay don't feel too bad. I may only be seventeen, but I've seen years of war and battle. I'd like to go see how things are with Aang though." he said.

"Alright, I think we are done here. I'm pooped. Gonna go lay down. You guys go ahead" Toph said.

With that Sora and Katara made their way back to Aang.


	10. The Vengeful One

Aang looked at his pale blue skin and clothes. He had successfully entered the spirit world. He didn't know how exactly he would find Aqua and Yuffie, so he decided he would talk to Avatar Roku first and go from there. He reached out to his past life. Roku responded quickly, and smiled warmly at Aang.

"Aang. It is good to see you. We have much to discuss." Roku said.

"Avatar Roku. Boy do I have a dozy for you. But first, I'd like help finding some people. I'm here right now because I'm looking for someone's friends, Aqua and Yuffie. These people were brought to me and are in a coma. Katara thinks the issue may be spiritual." Aang explained.

"I understand. I know of these two as well. They are recent additions. There is quite a stir because of them. Come, we will go to where they are." Roku said.

A dragon appeared and lowered itself so that Aang and Roku could get on it's back. It had a long body and looked strong with thick curved horns. Once they were on the dragon took off. After a few minutes of flying the dragon slowed down and landed itself in a large clearing. Aang could hear loud shouts and got off the dragon, making his way towards them. Roku followed him.

Aang saw two women in front of him. One was Aqua. She was sitting against a tree with little critters crowding about her. The other woman he recognized as Yuffie. She was stomping about throwing profanity wildly, scaring the animals that hid far away from her.

"Uh, Yuffie? Aqua?" Aang said.

Instantly Yuffie disappeared and Aang felt his world spin. She had snuck behind him and hip tossed him onto the floor. She pressed his knee into his spine and held a sharpened twig to the back of his neck.

"Who are you? Where are we? Where is Sora!?" she asked rapidly.

"Yuffie, relax." Aqua spoke from where she sat. "You can't keep attack things that get too close. I'm sure Sora will find us soon."

"The hell I can't!" Yuffie shouted back.

Avatar Roku just looked on in passive observation.

"W-wait! Sora right? I know Sora. He sent me here to try to help you both." Aang explained nervously.

"Sora sent you? You're just a kid. What can you do?" Yuffie asked not impressed.

"I'm the bridge between the spirit world and the physical world. You guys are in the spirit world. I can bring you back to the physical world, where Sora is waiting for you" Aang said.

"Spirit world? No way did we die?" Yuffie asked confused.

"I believe I may be able to shed some light on this situation." Roku said.

"And just who do you think you are old man?" Yuffie asked.

"I am Avatar Roku, the previous bridge between the two worlds. The spirits tell me they dragged you in here as a defense mechanism. Initially when they felt your presence, they felt a great darkness in you both. This world is already war torn and out of balance, so they reacted harshly and trapped you in the spirit world. In this way, you would not be able to destroy the balance any more than it already is with any evil that may or may not have resided within your hearts."

"So what the world got spooked? But I'm as harmless as a flower, I'd never hurt anything." Yuffie said even as she subconsciously dug her knee deeper into Aang when she felt him trying to get up.

"Be that as it may, that was the decision of the spirits. Aang has come to try and convince them otherwise." Roku said.

"Oh. Well then by all means get to it buddy." Yuffie said as she picked Aang up and dusted him off. Aang was just glad to be free.

Aqua sighed and stood up. "Please excuse my friend here, Avatar Aang. We are both just really worried about Sora. Thank you for coming to our aid." she said,

"It's no problem at all. Please just wait a moment while I talk to the spirits and try to get you guys out of here." Aang said.

Aang expanded his senses to try to call out to the stronger spirits. He felt one respond to him and pull him away from the others. He followed the pull behind some trees and encountered a beautiful golden haired woman. She was wrapped in golden sashes and her skin was silver and radiant. Her silvery blue eyes landed on Aang and he heard the most beautiful voice come from her mouth.

"Avatar Aang. I know you have come to ask that those two intruders be freed. I must advise against freeing them. The blue one has an underlying madness that is eating away at her slowly. She is a walking natural disaster waiting for the proper trigger to go off. The other, louder one is a shadow. She is tainted and her hands are dyed in blood. They must not be allowed to freely roam the earth, they will cause havoc and disorder. Death and destruction follow their steps. " the spirit spoke.

Aang was confused. They sure didn't seem all that dangerous. Maybe the ninja girl could ease up a bit, but he wouldn't call them darkness.

"But your spiritedness their friend is very concerned about them. He seems like a great guy and he could be a powerful asset in ending the war and restoring balance. Helping his friends that are trapped here could go a long way to getting them all to focus their powers against the fire nation. If they are really that dangerous, then I think we should try to focus that power not trap it." Aang reseasoned.

"My name is Wonder, Avatar, please use it from this point on. And I see your point. I admit, they haven't done anything yet to warrant fear. We just see the potential they have and the damage they could do. Do you honestly believe you could use that power to help restore balance?" Wonder asked.

"Well that is my job, right? Restoring balance and all that good stuff. Wonder, I do believe these people can help for the better of us all, and I will be personally responsible for seeing this doesn't blow up in our faces. You have my word." Aang said, bowing in respect and promise.

Wonder mulled over Aang's declaration, and finally relented. "Very well. Touch their foreheads and guide them back with you when you leave. I will allow their departure."

"Thank you Wonder, you will not regret this decision." Aang said and with that he went back to the waiting group.

Wonder held it in for as long as she could, but after Aang left her she broke out into a grin and started laughing.

"What a fucking retard! Some bridge he is, he can't even sense when a spirit is begging for help." Wonder smirked.

She walked over to a nearby mound of dirt. She dug for a few seconds and pulled out a tied up spirit. This was the real spirit that was supposed to make the decision on whether or not to let Aqua and Yuffie go back. Wonder had followed Sora instead of Kairi as her mother instructed her to. In this world, her powers of the mind were amplified due to the abundance of spiritual energy. There was also a door to darkness somewhere in this world, which made her even stronger.

Wonder picked up the cowering spirit and pet it's cheeks in a loving manner, just like her mother would do. "Shh don't worry, everything is going to be okay darling." She then tore the spirits head off and ate it, in a cruel display of evil. Just like her mother would do.

* * *

Aang got back to the waiting group and told them the good news. Aqua and Yuffie were glad as Aang walked up and touched their foreheads. He sent them away back to their bodies, but Roku caught his attention before he could go back himself.

"Aang, there is something I must discuss with you."

"Oh, there was a vision I wanted to talk about as well. I almost forgot."

"I believe we wish to discuss the same matter. Not too long ago, I had a vision of a terribly powerful individual. He had command of every element, even light and darkness were at his command. In the end, he plunged the world into darkness, destroying everything."

"That's insane, I had the exact same vision!"

"I was greatly troubled by this vision, and asked previous Avatars if they had any insight. To my surprise and alarm, they had seen the same vision as I."

"No way, we all saw the same thing? What could that possibly mean."

"It is worth noting Aang, that while we all saw the same individual, some Avatar's claimed in their vision this being unleashed light and healed the world instead of the darkness that destroys it."

"Great so now there's two versions of the same thing? Ugh. What does that even mean? Why are they different?"

"The only thing we've managed to come up with is that the decision this person will make has yet to be set in stone. This individual may yet choose to save the world or destroy it. As the current Avatar, it is up to you to find this person and try to influence his decision for the good of the world."

"But the vision happened so fast, and there was so much going on. How will I be able to find him, I only have a vague idea of what he looks like."

"We believe the one you call Sora is this person."

"Sora? But I just met him, and he doesn't seem to have a bad bone in his body."

"Light and darkness will lead to the same conclusion, if there is no balance. Love and Hate are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. The key is balance. You must help maintain the balance Aang."

"But, but I still have to worry about the Fire Lord and the war! I can barely do that how am I supposed to handle all of this at once! I can't do it!"

"You have inherited this war because of my own failures. I am deeply sorry. But it is my belief that you were meant to redeem me, and bring balance to the world. You were meant to be the greatest of us all. You can do this, Avatar Aang"

After saying this Roku and the world around him started to fade, and Aang felt his consciousness being dragged back to his body.

"Wait no please, tell me how! Roku please! I can't do this! I can't-"

And Aang was gone. Roku sighed heavily, full of regret for leaving all this on Aang's shoulders. As he was brooding, Wonder came up beside him and lovingly touched his cheek.

"My my, what a devilishly handsome face to be making a frown with." she said.

Roku could feel the spiritual power of this spirit heavily on his shoulders. He wisely chose to play along with whatever the spirit was getting at.

"You flatter me, when your beauty over shadows Tu and La. To what do I owe the honor of your company" he asked.

"Oh never you mind that. I'm just a bored, hungry eternal starting more fires than I'm putting out. Such is my nature" Wonder responded hotly, pressing herself close against Roku.

Despite himself, Roku felt the familiar stir of passion in his groin, and marvelled that he could feel anything like that in the spirit world as it had never happened before.

"Is the fire in me that which you wish to stoke now?"

"Depends how hot it burns"

"Hotter than the sun"

"Show me."

* * *

Aang was slammed back into his body. As he came to he heard Sora speaking excitedly.

"Yuffie! Aqua! You're alright!" he said, picking them both up in a hug.

Yuffie gripped his ass as she smiled. "Aw did ya miss me?"

Aqua was content to nuzzle herself into Sora as he held her.

Sora turned to Aang as he noticed him standing up.

"Aang, you have helped me in a way I can never repay. I am in your debt. Whatever you want from me, just name it. I'll do anything for the one who brought my loves back to me."

Aang was terrified of Sora now. Knowing Sora may be the one to destroy the world or save it made Aang weak just looking at him. But he remembered that it was up to him to make sure Sora stayed on the path of light. Having Sora in his debt was sure to help.

"Well Sora, there is something that you may be able to help with, besides my missing friend. What do you know about the fire nation?" Aang asked.

"The fire nation? Well, I was captured by the fire lord's daughter, Azula. Piece of work that one. She made a big stink about her status and had us all chained up. But we escaped without issue. Why?" Sora said, trying to ignore Yuffie rubbing his crotch. Luckily her body blocked line of sight from the others.

"The fire nation has been at war with the world for the last one hundred years. They are a nation of ruthless and evil people that have killed and conquered the world as they see fit. Their goal is complete world domination. We've been trying to stop them, and we believe we have a plan to do so. What I want from you, is your help in saving the world." Aang finished, a serious face on.

"Oh, so you just need us to save the world? No problem, just point us in the right direction!" Sora said.

"This is serious! The fire nation has killed countless people and enslaved millions. They are all monsters and we need to put a stop to them as soon as possible!" Katara said, upset that Sora was taking this so lightly. "They killed my mother and tore my village apart!"

Sokka walked up to his sister and hugged her as she sobbed into his chest.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound insensitive. It's just that I've taken down so many tyrants and bad guys I just keep it moving." Sora said, ignoring the painful squeeze from Yuffie.

"We have all lost something in this war. If you are really as good as you say you are, then please help us end it." Aang said.

"Of course. One condition" Sora said. Aang looked at him confused.

"A condition? What happened to being in my debt and doing anything I asked?" Aang questioned.

"I am still in your debt, and I am more than willing to end this war for you. But it has to be on my terms." Sora said.

"Well, okay. Can't be that bad. What's the condition?" Aang asked.

"Do not question my methods.' Sora said evenly.

"Methods? What are your methods" Sokka asked suspiciously.

"Look, despite all the experience I'm sure you guys have I doubt any of you have actually been forced to break your moral standards to any notable extent. The most recent evil bastard I fought had his eye set on the entire cosmos, and snuffed out entire worlds in order to reach his goal. I realize now, despite my moral hang ups, a lot of suffering could have been completely avoided if someone just stepped up and killed the old fart." Sora explained.

"Killing fire nation. You drive a hard bargain, but I'll give it to ya. Kill as many as you need to." Sokka said, easily agreeing earning a hard poke from Katara.

"Killing...no there can't be any killing. It's wrong…" Aang said.

"Aang comes from the Air Nomads. They were all wiped out by the fire nation. They were a peaceful people who were monks. They never took life, even animal life. If possible, we would like to settle this without any more bloodshed." Katara said, explaining Aang's statement.

This struck a nerve in Yuffie who stopped her playing to speak her mind.

"What the hell do you mean 'any more bloodshed'? How can you expect for anyone to take you seriously when their family and friends are being killed and made into slaves and you have the audacity to tell them not to kill anyone!" she yelled at Katara.

"We can't fix violence with violence. We have end the cycle!" Katara yelled right back.

"The cycle will end when we kill every single man woman and child of this fire nation. All livestock too while we're at it." Yuffie rebutted.

"You want to commit genocide!? You can't just kill everyone there could be innocent people that's a horrible plan!" Katara shot back.

"For every person you leave alive that's another person you'll have to fight down the line! Every child you spare will grow up to be a warrior with their blade at your throat. If you do not stomp out the entire flame the embers you leave behind will rekindle that very same fire eventually." Yuffie said.

"That sounds like something the fire nation would say!" Katara screamed, getting very worked up.

"Well they wouldn't have made it this far if they weren't good at what they do!" Yuffie screamed right back.

Katara cried out in rage and and lounged ay Yuffie. Luckily, she was still in Sokka's arms and he was able to stop her as soon as he felt her move. Aang sweat nervously at the exchange. Sokka spoke up then.

"Katara. She is right. We are an example of this. They killed our tribesmen, and left us alive. Now look at us, ready to come back stronger and smarter and take them out once and for all. If we want to win this war, we have to be decisive and just as ruthless is not more so than they've been." he said.

"Be like them!? No! We have to be better than them! I will never be like them!" Katara shouted, struggling against him.

"Then you will die, and all your efforts and enduring will have meant nothing." Aqua said, breaking her silence.

"I get it." Aang said, drawing everyone's attention to himself.

"Aang, no you can't mean that you agree." Katara said tearfully.

"Murder is bad. That will never not be true. But if we fail, or do this half way and my children have to live in a world of war for it, then what will our efforts matter. If we can't truly stop this, what would my people's death matter? What would your mother's death have mattered?" he said, knowing it would hurt her.

Katara looked on with tears now falling freely. "How dare you." Katara slowly shook off her brother and walked away out of the room.

Sokka sighed heavily. "I get it, okay. It was foolish to think we could solve war with peace and non-violence."

Aang looked at Sora with a tight jaw. "If it ends this war, if it makes it so we never have to fight the fire nation again, I agree to your terms Sora."

"Phew, that was intense. Well, I get it. And don't worry. All this will be just a memory when you can finally say the war is done." Yuffie said, sitting back on the bed she was laying in before.

Sora sighed and looked down cast. "I wish it wasn't like this, but evil people don't just do evil things, they make other people do evil things."

"Sora, I need to fill you in on the plan. We have been trying to get an audience with the earth king but we have been blocked at every turn. Do you think you could get us in?" Sokka asked.

"Hm, I think my Sifu might be better for this job" Sora said with a smile.

"Who is that?" Aang asked.

"Who? Why, I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

* * *

Yuffie led Aang into the earth kingdom castle. Sora wanted to teach Toph how to bend earth at a higher level, and no one else had the light footwork to come along. She and Aang snuck into walls and through the vents. They crawled and crawled until they reached a vent that looked out into the earth king's throne room. There sat the earth king himself, along with a weird faced bear. Guards in green and black robes flanked the king and a man with a long braided ponytail stood in front of him talking.

"Alright kid, we have two options. Option one, we can expose ourselves from the get go and try to talk it out. Or option two, my personal favorite, we swiftly take out all the guards and talk to the king directly." Yuffie informed Aang.

"Um, well I'm the Avatar and I'm kind of a big deal. I'm pretty confident the king will at least hear me out if I just approach him." Aang said.

Yuffie thought about this and shook her head at the vanilla approach. "Fine fine, but you're going in alone. I will hang back and provide support in case shit goes south. You can go whenever you're ready."

Taking a deep breath, Aang threw himself forward and landed right in front of the earth king's throne.

"Intruder!" the guards shouted at once, restraining Aang with stone hand projectiles.

"Wait! I'm the Avatar! I come with urgent news the earth king must hear!" Aang said while cuffed up.

The man that was speaking to the earth king turned and addressed Aang. "Didn't we tell you to wait for a proper audience? The earth king is very busy and know you've broken into his home!"

"Wait this is the Avatar? And he wants an audience with me? Why ever would you make him wait Lei Fong?" the earth king spoke.

"Well your highness it wasn't a pressing matter they wanted to discuss or anything like that." Lei Fong argued.

"Yes it is! We told you we have a plan to defeat the fire nation and win this war!" Aang said.

"Wait, a war? Fire nation? What are you talking about?" the earth king asked, confused.

Yuffie listened patiently from the shadows, having moved from the vent while they were talking. She heard Aang get the earth king up to speed with everything and listened for herself as well. She saw that the earth king was going to let Aang show him some drill as proof, but Lei Fong was against it, claiming it was a trick. She was about to take him out when she saw the earth king decided to trust Aang.. She silently followed them outside, and kept her distance as they were taken up the wall by Aang's earth bending. She scaled the wall by her own means and discreetly rejoined Aang as he explained the drill to the earth king.

"See your majesty, this is what has been kept from you. The fire nation is knocking on your door, and they will tear it down if you don't stop them. Luckily, we have a plan to put an end to this war once and for all." Aang finished.

"Guards, arrest Lei Fong for conspiracy and treason. Aang, please tell me the plan." the earth king said solemnly.

Yuffie stuck her tongue out as the traitor was dragged away, much to his rage.

"Oh, and who is this? More enemies?" the earth king said harshly while looking at Yuffie.

"No no she's with me! She's a great warrior that's helping in the war efforts." Aang said.

"Hey blue balls, I'm a great ninja. NINJA!" Yuffie corrected him.

"Very well. Let's head back to the throne room and hear this plan with my war generals." The earth king said.

* * *

Sora stood with the entire group before the earth king now. He had heard Sokka explain the plan, that they will take advantage of the eclipse that will be happening in just a few weeks. Sora really just wanted to go and settle things quickly, but remembered that he can only meddle so much. He also knew that if he overstepped his support role in this conflict the people would be worse off for it. There was a lot of hurt, and these people needed their own catharsis and closure.

Sora volunteered to meet with the war generals to discuss the plan. He was confident with more maps and information he could at least form a plan that would result in the safest option for the good guys.

"I'm going with you. I want to be there and help with the plan." Katara said.

"Really? You want to help make a plan that will be designed to get people killed? Oh you do know that's what war plans are for. Right?" Yuffie said to her.

"I know what a war plan is!" Katara snapped back.

"Oh you must be trying to soften it up then, make sure none of those sad misguided fire nation cuties get hurt right? You probably want to walk up and knock on the front door huh?" Yuffie was clearly antagonizing Katara now.

"What the hell is your problem?!" It had worked.

"My problem, sugar tits, is you don't have the ovaries to take a life so what business do you have in a soldiers meeting?"

"Yuffie." Sora said simply.

He looked at her in disapproval, and she huffed but shut up nonetheless.

"Katara, I think you joining us would be a great idea. It will help you gain some perspective, give us a different perspective, and you might just help us steer away from unnecessary casualties." Sora said with optimism.

"That sounds good...thank you Sora." Katara said, calming down.

"But first, Aang I believe we have a friend to find." Sora said turning to him.

"Appa! Yes lets find my buddy. Where should we look for him?" Aang said.

"Come here, you have all that I need." Sora said.

Aang walked over to Sora and Sora instructed him to fill his mind with Appa, and focus on his feelings for him. Sora placed his right palm over Aang's chest and linked himself to that connection. He felt the warmth and friendship between the two of them, and ignored the dull pain he felt remembering his own friends. He opened his eyes and smiled at Aang.

"He is close actually, just deep underground." Sora said.

"I'm coming buddy!" Aang said, running off.

"Your highness, the Avatar and I have a pressing matter to attend to. Can we schedule the meeting for this afternoon?" Sora said with surprising decor.

"Of course, I will have the arrangements made. Thank you, all of you, for your efforts. I can only hope it is not too late to protect my kingdom.

* * *

Sora took Toph with him to go find Aang. They found Aang pretty easily as he was stomping on the ground yelling for Appa.

"Geez twinkle toes you're gonna scare all the ants." Toph said, getting Aang's attention.

"It's okay Aang, just follow me. I'll take us to where he is." Sora said.

The three walked in the shadows, sneaking their way through the city and found themselves at a large lake.

"Uh, why did we sneak through the town like criminals? And why are we at a lake?" Aang asked

"Lets just say you don't want to know. Also, I can feel a large gap under the lake. It must be a secret hide out or something?" Toph said.

"It must be where Appa is at. Can you get us there? Sora asked.

Eager to show off her improvements to Sora, Toph nodded confidently and got in a low stance. Instead of beating the earth into submission, she lathered it with her will like Sora had taught her to. In this way the earth wasn't just a tool, but a true extension of herself and she could move every single atom of it as she saw fit to. She raised a hidden tunnel above the water and lowered it's stairs.

"There ya go. One secret lair to order." She said

"Great job Toph, I felt the earth was a part of you. You're doing wonderful!" Sora praised her while patting her back.

Aang walked in without further delay and the two of them followed.

* * *

As they walked through the underground lair they couldn't help but notice how empty it all seemed. Sora noticed how some walls looked to be partially destroyed.

"It's as if someone tried to destroy this place but was stopped half way through." Sora thought out loud.

"Yeah, I can feel the earth around me was abused. Someone wanted this place buried." Toph added.

"Buried? But Appa is down here right? Who could do such a thing?" Aang said worried for his friend.

"I'm not sure, but it's this door." Sora said stopping in front of a large door.

Aang opened the large doors with a strong gust of wind, and rushed inside. Following Aang, Sora saw a large white furred and horned beast laying on the ground and in chains. It's fur was burned in several spots, and it's face was covered in soot and slash marks. It's left horn was cut clean in half and it was panting heavily where it lay. It looked like a fire bender with swords had tried to kill the great beast.

"No. No no no nonononono!" Aang said as he rushed to Appa's side and hugged him tightly. He could feel the short charred fur under his hands and face.

Toph felt along his fur and felt the damage as well. She teared up. "Who could hurt Appa like this? Appa never did anything to anyone." She said. Then she picked up on Appa's heart beat. It was slow. Too slow. It was stopping!

"NO APPA!" Toph yelled. " Sora please, you have to do something, his heart beat is stopping!"

"HIS WHAT!" Aang cried out in alarm.

Sora wasted no time in leaping on Appa's back. He touched his spine through the fur and poured a curaga spell into him. Unfortunately, it wasn't that effective due to the nature of the world he was currently in and there was no nearby water to use as a medium.

"I'm sorry, my bending isn't strong enough without water as a medium to heal the damage done" Sora said sadly.

"No Appa!" Aang wailed.

"Wait. Sora, could you filter out water from blood?" Toph asked.

Sora thought about it for a few seconds before responding. "I suppose I could separate some water from blood, but I'd need a lot of it. More than someone your size could safely give, and I can't use my own."

"Then is it even a question, use my blood!" Aang cried out, biting into his wrist and tearing off the skin causing blood to gush out.

Sora wasted no time and bended Aang's blood. He easily filtered out the water and it worked much better to heal Appa. As the healing progressed, Sora tried to return Aang's used blood but without water it just turned into a dry paste of cells. Aang was beginning to feel dizzy and was having a hard time staying conscious. Sora noticed Aang closing his eyes and stopped his bending.

"Aang! You need to stay awake. You cannot fall asleep" Sora yelled in his ear.

"I know I know i'm just so tired. Just a little nap is all I need…" Aang said.

Sora was forced to completely stop the healing because it was clear Aang had given all he could.

"Okay Aang that's enough, that's all we can do." Sora said.

"What about Appa, will he be okay?" Aang with one eye almost closed.

Toph felt Appa's heart beat and found it to be only marginally better. "Sora, it's no good. There's just...too much damage. It was definitely a fire bender too, I can feel the charred flesh throughout Appa. Aang, I'm sorry…" Toph said, crying.

Aang snapped out of his daze. "NO! There's no way we can let him die! Take more blood, please take all you need! Please!" Aang begged to Sora.

Sora was reminded of when he begged Siax for Kairi, and he related to Aang in this moment. But he simply couldn't bring himself to take more blood, as it will no doubt kill Aang and there was no promise it would even be enough anyway. He told as much to Aang.

Aang simply cried bitterly hugging Appa's face. The large beast nuzzled into Aang as best he could, quietly crying too.

Sora and Toph decided to give the two some space, and waited outside the room. They closed the doors behind them.

"Aang won't take this lying down." Toph told Sora.

"I wouldn't either." he said, crying softly.

"This all started because some sand benders came and kidnapped Appa while no one was around. I was there, but I was stopping the building those guys were in from sinking in the middle of a desert, and on the sand I couldn't see well at all so I couldn't fight them anyway. I feel so bad, this is all my fault!" Toph sobbed. Sora hugged her and let her cry on him.

"It's okay Toph, it was never your fault. You want to know whose fault it really is? It's those sand benders. And those fire benders. They are the ones at fault. All people like them do is destroy. They are selfish and take what they want and to hell with anyone else. They laugh at our pain." He said. She started crying even harder.

"People like that don't deserve to live. We try our best to be kind, to not hurt anybody. And these monsters, they just waltz right in and spit on our efforts. They rob, cheat, rape, and kill us without any remorse. And they do it again and again and again! That is why I won't have any mercy on my enemies. Because they have no excuse to hurt anyone." he continued.

"Y-your right." Toph said between sobs, but she was calming down. "Why should someone work hard for days to earn a wage, then have it stolen by some thug in less than ten seconds? Why should a father or mother raise a child for years only to have the child hurt or killed by some bastard? Why do we have to try so hard when there are people that will hurt us and those we love for no better reason than us walking down a certain street at a certain time?! Why should they get to live when Appa doesn't!?" she screamed. Her sadness was quickly turning into rage.

Before Sora could respond, a strong gust of wind blasted the doors open once again, followed by a low booming voice that answered from behind them.

"**They won't."**


	11. Calm Before The Firestorm

Author Notes:

In case anyone is wondering, and if it wasn't obvious, Sora has some real issues going on in his heart and mind. Most of them are a direct result of the punishment from Kingdom Hearts. I have a few more chapters written out which will wrap up this world so if you wanted to have some sort of say in what worlds will be coming next, now's your chance. Some insight into Aqua's character OC-ness this chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

"They won't." Aang said evenly.

Toph could smell the scent of burning flesh and Sora could see the large flaming mass behind Aang. Aang set Appa's corpse on fire, and it burned furiously behind him as he stood in the doorway.

"Aang, you cremated Appa?" Toph asked.

"This way, no one will ever hurt him again. He is finally free." Aang stated.

Sora took in Aang, and the look of vengeance in his eyes. "Do you understand now? Do you understand that people deserve to live free of fear and pain?" he asked the tense avatar.

"Yes." Aang responded, steam pulsing out of his mouth and nostrils with every breathe.

"It is true we can not stop every bad person in the world. But when they are right in our faces, torching down our homes and loved ones boldly in front of us? You better show those people you love them and get what's yours." Sora said.

"I will." Aang said.

"Then there is nothing left to say. Let's go." Sora said, with Toph and Aang following him back out of the lair.

As they came out from underground Aang turned and resolutely stomped his foot on the ground. The entire lair collapsed in on itself forever sealing away it's mysteries.

The three of them walked on in silence, Sora departing once they made it to the outskirts of town.

"I have to go check on something" Sora said walking away.

Aang and Toph said nothing as they kept on their course.

* * *

Sora sneaked around, making his way to the middle ring. He closed in on a tea shop of moderate quality. He dusted off his robes and entered the establishment, seating himself. A young man with a burn scar on the right side of his face came to wait on him.

"Welcome. What do you want?" he said.

"I'd like you to introduce yourself for starters young boy." Sora said. He didn't look too much younger than Sora, but he wanted to see if it would rile him up.

"What? We are probably the same age, don't call me a boy!" the burned teen said.

"I'll call you pink face if I want, as long as I don't know your name. For all I know it is pink face." Sora said with a smirk.

"Lee! My name is Lee." Lee said.

"Well Lee I don't quite like your attitude. Bring out your manager so I may speak with him." Sora said turning up his nose.

Lee ground his teeth together in rage. "Right away, SIR!" He stomped off to the kitchen.

In the kitchen Lee looked for the manager but only found his uncle.

* * *

"Uncle, there is an irate customer that wants to speak to the manager." he said.

"Oh no, did you insult his hair again? I already told you the culture here is different, you can not go insulting a person's hair in a tea shop." his uncle said.

"Ugh no, he just came at me. So is the manager here or not?" Lee said irritated.

"I'm afraid not, but I will go and speak with him. Stay here and tend to the tea. Don't actually touch it, just make sure it doesn't spill over! Your tea is terrible hahaha!"

* * *

After a few moments, Sora was approached by a short stumpy old man. Sora immediately noticed the dull darkness surrounding this man, as if he had once been a terrible being and had since retired. Now he has just sad.

"I apologize for any rudeness my nephew has done upon you. I am Iroh, the manager on duty at this time. How could I improve your experience today?" Iroh said.

Sora stared at iroh for a few moments, and Iroh felt the tension mounting between them.

'Who is this young man? I feel like a boe nosed sheep-goat being stared down by a silver-scaled dragon!' Iroh thought to himself. He was experienced and powerful enough to sense threats and Sora was making every red flag bellow in the wind.

"Greetings Iroh. You might consider a better server, perhaps one that doesn't kill a now extinct animal. I understand the desire to take care of family, but when you help them you also take on all the issues they come with." Sora said, smiling kindly.

"I assure you Sir, I am well equipped to take care of my nephew and any problems that may be associated with him. He is quite the troublemaker, but he is good at heart. We have yet faced a problem we could not overcome." Iroh said, getting defensive at the nature of the conversation.

"Really? What about an avatar without any reservations about killing you?" Sora said, his smile melting into a scowl.

Iroh's blood froze and he began to sweat nervously. His face did not give away anything though. "Sir, that would be quite the situation, but law abiding citizens such as ourselves should have no fear of ever encountering such a thing."

Sora got up and walked up to Iroh, leaning in to speak quietly into his ear.

"Listen Iroh, I know you or at least your nephew is fire nation. I followed the trail from the avatar's now dead bison into this tea shop and your nephew was covered in it. I don't know who you are or why you are here but your nephew killed the last remaining family he had left. The avatar is out for blood. He will not get out of this alive."

Iroh was now visibly shaken. "Oh Zuko, what have you done…" Iroh softly said, rushing back into the kitchen.

Sora looked around. There were a few curious customers but most didn't pay him any mind. He turned and left making sure to memorize the name of the soon to be dead fire nation native.

'Zuko huh…'

* * *

Iroh burst into the kitchen, surprising Zuko.

"Uncle? What's wro-" Zuko was gripped violently by Iroh and slammed against the wall.

"What did you do!?" Iroh yelled at his wayward nephew.

"U-uncle what do you mean? Stop this!" Zuko said.

"What do you know about the avatar's bison!" Iroh demanded.

"The avatar's...why are you asking about that? How should I know anything about that?" Zuko defended.

Iroh yelled in frustration causing a burst of fire to shoot out of his mouth. "Zuko you tell me right now what you have done or so help me!"

"Uncle please! I did what I had to do! With his bison down he won't be able to move as frequently, and I can finally catch him!" Zuko admitted. "I had to."

"No. No you didn't. You just compromised the only insurance that has been keeping you alive this far. The avatar's mercy. That strange customer is friends with the avatar. He followed you here, to this tea shop. He told me that bison was the last family the avatar had left. And you killed it! You fool!" Iroh shouted throwing Zuko onto the floor.

"Uncle it's not that bad! We can capture the avatar, he is weak. And he is grieving." Zuko said, getting up.

"You sound just like your father." Iroh said. He took his apron off and started walking away. "I am going home for tonight. I suggest you do the same. We may have little time to relocate."

Zuko stood there in the now silence, wondering why nothing ever works out the way he plans.

* * *

"So he intercepted all your letters? What an asshole." Yuffie said.

She was currently handing out letters found in Lei Fong's office. He had been stealing mail addressed to those in the avatar's group, as well as building up a profile databank on everyone of note in the city.

"Wow! My mom's in the city, and by the feel of the text she feels sorry for how she treated me and wants to meet up." Toph said, excited at the thought that her mother would finally accept her.

"Thants great Toph. We got a letter from our people, and directions to the fleet. Sokka, I think you should go. I need to stay here." Katara said, looking to Aang.

"Thank you so much Katara." Soka said, hugging her.

"Aang, there is something here for you as well. From a 'Guru' or something." Yuffie said, tossing the scroll at him.

He caught it without any reaction and opened it. "This...is actually good. This Guru says he can help me control the avatar state. He says I could access it at will. With that kind of power, the fire nation won't stand a chance. I have to go. I need that power." he said.

"Aang this could be a trap, we don't even know if this Guru is real." Katara said.

"I'll go with him." Aqua offered.

"How will you get there? It could take weeks without…" Katara said, her sentence dying off near the end..

"I know he is gone Katara, you don't have to sugar coat it! There's no way to get to the air temple without Appa." Aang said, sighing.

"A-Aang I'm sorry I was just…" Katara stuttered.

"Yeah well just don't. I've made peace with it. And I will avenge his death, then that will be it." Aang said hotly.

The group was quiet for a few minutes after Aang's outburst.

"I might have a way to get us there almost in an instant. But it requires for me to have at least been to the destination once. If you have been there before we can use your memory instead." Aqua offered.

"I have. How soon can we move out?" Aang said. He was very eager to control the avatar state.

"Right now if you're ready. Sora doesn't need me to babysit him and vice versa, so we can leave now." Aqua said.

"But he dooooes love being sat on." Yuffie added, for no good reason.

Aqua just rolled her eyes and stepped forward with Aang. She placed a hand on his forehead to create a link, and she made a corridor of darkness to the destination in Aang's mind.

"We'll be back soon. Be ready to move out by then." Aang said to his friends, and stepped into the portal with Aqua. It closed behind them and they were gone.

"Well, that was freaky. It felt like a solid shadow against the ground. How is that even possible?" Toph said.

"I stopped asking questions a loooong time ago. You never get a good answer, so just roll with it." Yuffie said casually.

"Rolling is what I do ninja nips. Speaking of which, I'm gonna go pay a quick visit to mama bear, see what she wants. Meet up in a few days?" Toph said.

"You know it foot fetish." Yuffie said, grabbing Toph's fist and pounding it.

Katara just rolled her eyes. "Well it would've been nice if Aqua sent you to where dad is wouldn't it have?" she said to Sokka.

"Yeah I guess but maybe Sora can help. I know the general area, I can get close to the spot at least." Sokka said trying to remember the closest landmark to where he had to go.

"Sora can do what now?" Sora said, walking into the small office.

"Oh baby!" Yuffie shouted in glee, throwing herself at Sora and kissing him greedily.

"Uh, we were wondering if you could do that freaky dark magic portal thing that Aqua does to help me get somewhere far, since we don't have Appa anymore now." Sokka said, trying and failing to ignore the humping going on 4 feet away from him.

"Oh sure, come here" Sora said, holding out his hand. Yuffie was still on him humping away as well.

Sokka awkwardly inched forward and let Sora's hand landed on his forehead. Sora used the memories Sokka was putting out and linked it to a dark portal for him to travel through.

"Okay, that should work. Move fast, and do not go off the path while in there. You will die." Sora warned.

"What! Die!?" Sokka and Katara both yelled at once.

Sora was quite fed up with the interruptions and shoved Sokka into the portal, making it close right after. He briefly looked at Katara and Toph and shrugged his shoulders.

"Listen ladies, it's gonna be a long battle. I am going to fuck my woman here until she can't feel anything below her neck. You are free to stay and be pervs, or be on your way. Your choice." Sora said, slamming Yuffie on the table after clearing the mess that was on it.

He began ripping Yuffie's clothes while she skillful cut away his robes. They were both naked within seconds and met each others cores like savages. Sore rammed himself inside Yuffie, who was more than ready, and kept up a ridiculously fast pace.

"OHMYGODGROSS!" Katara said, rushing out of the room.

Toph just stood there, seemingly glad with not being able to see anything. Well, at least in the traditional sense. In reality, she saw much more than the average person would right now. She could feel the power behind Sora's motions through the earth. The way the table buckled and trembled. The way Yuffie timed her motions just right to get as much out of every thrust as possible. Every muscle contraction, every inch and detail, were all burned into her mind in real time. And the sounds, oh the sounds. Every erotic breathe and meaty wet slap was vivid and told it's own story to her sensitive ears. The crescendo of them climaxing together was too much for Toph to handle. Sora's fingers dug into the desk and Toph could almost feel that awesome pressure on her own skin. Her nose exploded in a dramatic display of blood and she passed out from it all.

Of course, Sora and yuffie were nowhere near finished.

* * *

Azula was marching up to the earth kingdom in the uniform they stole from the Kiyoshi warriors. She felt like a clown but the disguise was perfect for what she had planned. Her and her two friends, Mai and Ty Lee, entered the palace and introduced themselves as the personal guard for the avatar. It was to her luck that the avatar and most of his groupies weren't around to call her bluff, and the earth king easily accepted them and gave them the highest clearance. They were given lavish quarters and began taking off their makeup and disguises.

"Ugh, this sucks. I hate you for making us do this." Mai said annoyed.

"Aw come on Mai, I like the get up. It's heavy but surprisingly flexible." Ty Lee chimed in.

"Indeed. There are pros and cons, but in the grand scheme of things this is just a means to an end. The first part of the plan is complete and we have successfully infiltrated the earth kingdom. Now we need to sow some discord, and turn the hearts of the Dai Lee to me. They are the key to controlling everything." Azula said.

"Did somebody say, discord?"

The three girls jumped into a tight circle standing back to back. They all heard the voice that spoke from nowhere and were on high alert at a possible intruder.

"Now now ladies, no need for such hostilities. I am a friendly ghost!" the voice said.

In front of Azula, a light appeared and began to take form. It settled on a small woman with golden sashes covering her top and bottom matched by her gold hair and contrasted by her dark silver blue eyes. Her skin reflected light with how silver it was. The form settled a foot on the ground and most of the light faded away. Azula uncovered her eyes and looked curiously at the spirit before her.

"Spirit, what business do you have here?" Azula asked.

"I am Wonder, and I see the plans you have made." Wonder spoke sweetly.

Azula began to sweat, she didn't know of any sure way to fight a spirit. "And? Have you come to stop us?" she asked, lighting azure flames in her hands despite herself.

Wonder laughed and it sounded like melted chocolate to the three girls. "Stop you? No,what you're doin sounds like oh so much fun! I am here to help you. You see, there are certain elements at play here that you know not about. One in particular that you have no hope of besting even in a million years of uninterrupted training by Agni himself." Wonder said.

"I have bested every enemy that has stood in my path thus far. I don't need to cheat to win, that would mar my honor." Azula replied, insulted Wonder thought she couldn't beat someone.

"Well, with you humans seeing is believing. How about this. It would serve both of our interests if you would defeat this person. He is a man, and he is indeed great. Greater than every avatar your world has seen combined and multiplied by a thousand!" Wonder spoke.

"You lie, the avatar is supposed to be the strongest, at least once fully realized. There simply can not be a stronger individual." Azula spoke dismissively.

"Well at least take this" Wonder said, handing Azula a pitch black wayfinder. "If you find yourself fighting this man and are losing, call out to me through this wayfinder. I will come to you and bestow upon you the fury of Agni himself."

"Thank you Wonder, but I look forward to proving you wrong." Azula said, pocketing the wayfinder.

"I'd be impossibly impressed if you do." Wonder said. With that, she faded from the mortal plane.

The three girls stood there unsure of what to do next.

"Well, at least I know I made the right choice coming with you. Never a dull moment at all." Mai said, smirking.

"How exciting! We have a spirit backing us up. You're basically like an avatar now!" Ty Lee giggled excitedly.

"Well, I'm more eager than ever now to see what this man has to offer the fire nation princess." Azula spoke, riled up.

They finished their nightly rituals and headed to bed. They had a lot of manipulation to do.

* * *

Aang and Aqua arrived on the peak of a mountain when they stepped out of the portal. They noticed a single elderly man on his knees with his face on the dirt. They could hear him crying, and Aqua took the lead to approach him to see what was wrong. Before she spoke up, the man stood up and turned to address them.

"Oh Avatar Aang! How I feel you loss. The great and majestic sky bison, my most recent friend, has departed from this world. I can no longer feel his chakras." The man spoke.

"What? How do you know Appa?" Aang asked, surprised.

"I am Guru Pathik. I encountered the peaceful giant while he was travelling alone. He was hurt and had been hunted so he did not trust me at first. But with patience, I was able to gain his trust, and I took care of him and fed him. I tied the note that brought you here to his horn. I was wondering why it had taken so long, but I understand now that things did not go smoothly." the Guru said.

"You...you took care of Appa?" Aang said, tearing up. "Thank you so much for being kind to him" Aang sobbed and hugged the Guru.

"I would have treated him no other way. We are all connected. To treat him kindly was to treat myself kindly." he said.

"I am here to learn how to master the avatar state. You said you could help?" Aang said.

"Indeed, I can help. But first, I'd like to help this lovely young woman here. Hello, what is your name?" the Guru asked Aqua.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt. I am Master Aqua. But, what would you help me with? Aang is the one who needs to master his avatar state." Aqua said.

"And he will. But I sense an ocean of darkness and despair within you, child. It is far too distracting, and it is breaking my heart." he said sincerely.

Aqua nervously looked around, unsure of how to respond.

"Look, I'm not asking you to do anything crazy. Just follow my lead for a day, and see what happens. Yes?" he implored.

"Well, okay. Sure. If it means that much to you Guru Pathik." Aqua relented.

"What should I do in the meantime?" Aang asked.

"Read this scroll. It should get you past the bulk of the training. If you hit any snags, just stop and we will finish it for you tomorrow. Honestly you could do the entire thing on your own, you just didn't know how. Now you will." the Guru said.

"Okay then, I'll you guys later!" Aang said, hopping off to train.

Guru Pathik lead Aqua to a waterfall. He explained chakras and how they worked. He shared that he saw an insurmountable blockage in almost all of her chakras, and wanted to try to help her clear them. He sat down in front of the waterfall, and motioned her to do the same.

"The first chakra is the Earth chakra. It is located at the base of the spine. It deals with survival, and is blocked by fear. What are you most afraid of? Let those fears become clear to you, and let them go." he instructed.

Aqua closed her eyes and thought of her fears. She feared being alone, abandoned all over again. She feared having no one. She wasn't strong enough to carry on all alone. The darkness within would swallow her. She feared the darkness.

"Good. Now, understand the fear. Accept your fear. Then let it go." he told her.

Aqua tried to picture her fear in a small black ball. It was heavy, and it was dark. But she knew she would never escape the darkness. It was, unfortunately, a part of her. So she accepted the darkness, and she let her fears of it go. She let out a long steady breathe.

"Very good. Now, on to the next chakra. The second chakra is the water chakra, located in the groin. It deals with pleasure, and is blocked by guilt. What do you regret doing? Accept that these things happened, and let go of the guilt that poisons you. You did those things, and it is okay that you enjoyed them at that time." he instructed.

Aqua focused on what she felt guilty of. She felt guilty that she couldn't save her master. See accepted the fact that he was gone, but she always felt guilty for not doing anything. She forced herself to admit that it wasn't her fault. She couldn't have known it would happen, and she was not responsible for Terra's actions. She let go of her guilt with a long steady breathe.

"Excellent. We are getting closer to the main blockage now. Third chakra is the fire chakra. It deals with willpower, and is blocked by shame. Think about your shame, and forgive yourself." he instructed.

Aqua thought about her travels. She had always fought her hardest with unwavering willpower, even when there was no hope. But in the realm of darkness, she had given up. Her willpower wasn't strong enough and she was deeply ashamed by it. She was supposed to be a warrior of light like her master before her, but she was corrupted. She was ashamed of her weakness and of what she has become. She tried to convince herself that it wasn't her fault, that the darkness was just too strong, but it wasn't working.

"Oh Aqua, you poor creature. Right now you are trying to convince yourself it was not your fault. But listen to me child, willpower is blocked by shame. You can only be ashamed of something you did or failed to do. You have to accept that it was indeed your lack of willpower that caused your failure. It was your fault. But nobody is perfect. To hold yourself to the standard of perfection is poisonous, and is not what you should do. Let go of your shame, by admitting to it." he said.

"But it was so hard! You don't know what I had to go through! The darkness, it was everywhere! It was too powerful. It hurt me, and nobody came to help! I was so alone!" Aqua screamed, crying bitterly.

It pulled at the deepest strings of Guru Pathiks heart, but he knew he had said all he needed to. It was up to her to accept her flaws, and let go of her shame. Slowly, Aqua settled down, and she closed her eyes once more. She returned her focus to her shame. She understood that no one was there, and that meant everything that happened to her was completely based off of her her ability and merit. If she failed, it was her own fault. She accepted her flaws, and let go of her shame with a shaky breath.

"Aqua, you are amazing to have made it this far. I know there is so much pain in you, which is why I want so badly to guide you to it's release. We are closer now. The next chakra is located in the heart. It deals with love, and is blocked by grief. It is often tied to previous chakras as well. Love is its own form of energy. Lay out your grief in front of you, and understand that those lost are not really gone. Love is simply reformed and reborn into a different shape. Focus on that new love, and let go of the grief that has lingered too long." he instructed.

Aqua closed her eyes and thought again of her master. He was the only parental figure she had, as she was orphaned as a baby. She remembered all of the good times, the times he pushed her, the times they laughed together, with Terra and later with Ventus, and the pride on his face when he named her Master Aqua. She then felt the images shift, and Sora took her master's place. His smiles, his caring love, his powerful protection. It made her smile and with a relieved sigh she let go of her grief.

"I am so proud of you Aqua. We are near the end, but also at the second most powerful blockage I can sense in you. The next chakra is the sound chakra. It deals with truth, and is blocked by lies. You can not lie about what you are, you must accept yourself if you are ever to regain balance." he instructed.

Aqua closed her eyes and thought about what she was. She was a woman, she was a keyblade master, she was unclean due to the darkness, she was a friend to some, and potential lover to one. She already accepted those things, and felt none of them were lies. She reaffirmed those truths within herself, and opened her eyes.

"Hm. That chakra opened seamlessly. Strange then it seemed so blocked. Or perhaps...maybe. The second to last chakra is the light chakra. It deals with insight, and is blocked by illusion. This is the greatest block I can feel from you. The greatest illusion is the illusion of separation. We are all connected, every soul energy and element. You must let go of the idea of separation, for we are one." he instructed.

"But Guru, I am well aware of the connections between hearts. I know we are all connected." Aqua said.

"If this is true, I am unsure as to why this chakra is blocked. It doesn't make much sense. Meditate, and see what you find then." he told her.

Aqua closed her eyes, and reached out to the space behind her eyes in concentration. This was where the light should be but...she felt nothing. Only darkness. There was no light in her. That was why she didn't feel anything was wrong, the entire chakra was missing.

"Um, Guru Pathik, I think my light chakra is…"

"Missing." he said in awe. "I have thought about it, but have never seen it for myself. I must admit, I do not know what to do about a completely missing chakra…" he said, baffled.

"Well, why not just try to finish opening the rest? I don't feel blocked, even though it may feel weird to you." Aqua offered.

"Very well. Might as well see what happens. The next chakra is the final one. It is the thought chakra. It deals with pure cosmic energy, and is blocked by earthly attachments. Allow yourself to be untethered from this world. Everything that you hold dear is a poison to your spirit. Let go of those things, and open yourself to the energy flowing around you always." he instructed.

Aqua closed her eyes once more and thought of all her attachment and unfinished business. Sora, Ven, Terra, even Yuffie to an extent. She knew she could still care about them, but for her purposes right now she would let them go. She felt herself being lifted up from her body, up above the clouds and into space. She found herself on a long winding road made of pure energy floating in space. She travelled along it, looking around in wonder. It led to a giant version of herself at the end of the road that was pitch black in color and littered with stars. She walked up to it's waiting hands. She let the dark being hug her tightly, and accepted the energy that flowed freely from it into herself. Aqua felt a power unlike anything she had felt before.

Aqua opened her eyes and Guru Pathik gasped when he saw them.

"Aqua, your eyes are glowing faintly. The blue is like an ocean of peace and strength. It is truly wonderful!" he cheered.

Aqua smiled. "I feel, amazing. Like this is what I have been waiting for all of my life."

Just then, Aang rushed down from above them and frantically pulled on Aqua's arm.

"Aqua, Aqua please, katara is in trouble! We have to go! I can not lose her too!"

"Avatar Aang, have you finished your chakra training?" the Guru asked.

"I couldn't, I'm sorry. When I was on the last chakra I saw her being kidnapped, I can't waste anymore time here. Aqua please, I think Sora was in trouble as well in my vision." he said.

Aqua quickly made a portal to go back to the city at the mention of Sora being in trouble, and rushed in.

"Aang please! If you stop now, you won't be able to enter the avatar state at all!" Guru Pathik urged him.

Aang stopped for a moment, but shook his head and dashed through the portal. It closed behind him and Guru Pathik was alone once more.

"I can only hope you realize how important you are Aang." he said with a sigh.

He then walked to the edge of the mountain and sat, meditating.

* * *

Toph had just got done meeting with her mother. She could honestly say she had a good time with her mother and enjoyed their conversation. Toph originally thought that it might have been a trap of some sort but it wasn't and she was glad for it. She noticed heavy footsteps and recognized them as Sora's. It still baffled her how physically she barely felt his light steps, but her earth sense get pounded by them. As he got within speaking range she tried her best to hide her blush.

"Hey Toph! Finally headed to the castle to meet up with everyone?" he said in greeting.

"Y-yeah, I'm all done with my personal stuff." she replied shyly.

"Toph? Why are you so reserved? Did I do something to upset you?" Sora asked. He took quite a liking to Toph, and would hate to have hurt her in any way.

"Oh like you don't know, you crazy pervert! You shagged Yuffie right next to me!" she hollered at him, fed up with being modest.

"What! I gave you both fair warning! Katara left, why couldn't you?" Sora said agast.

"You wanna know why? Because you were pounding Yuffie so hard the ground shook too much for me to get a proper view of anything except you two. I saw everything except the way out!" she fired back.

Sora had the decency to look embarrassed but still defended himself. "Well I still think you could have left a little sooner before we started, you just took too long. Lil perrrrv."

"Oh whatever." she turned blushing freely.

The two continued their banter as they approached the palace. They entered and waited in front of the earth king's throne for the meeting. They waited for twenty minutes before deciding everyone was late.

"What the hell, where is Katara and Yuffie? At least they should be here by now." Toph complained.

'Yeah, for sure Yuffie should' Sora thought to himself.

Just then, three women dressed in green brown and gold with makeup on their faces walked into the room. They walked orderly and slowly.

"Who are you guys?" Sora asked.

"We are the kyoshi warriors, now personal guard to the earth king. State your business." The woman in the front stated.

"That's a lie! Those aren't kyoshi warriors, they are impostures!" Toph yelled out, chucking multiple rocks in their direction.

The woman in front let out a burst of fire that made the rocks explode.

"Oh no, we've been discovered. Whatever shall we do?" she smirked.

"What have you done to our friends?!" Sora demanded.

"Oh don't worry they are safe, for now. If they stay safe completely depends on the actions you take. Oh, and it's me" She tore off her dress and wiped her face in one fluid motion.

"Azula! Why do you keep bothering me?" Sora said annoyed that he didn't kill her earlier.

"Uh, you are in my way. I'm going to overthrow the earth kingdom once and for all. You are just background noise. Though I must admit, powerful background noise. I know about your power to bend more than one element, and the fire lord himself is on his way to make sure you and the avatar are properly dealt with. There is no escape, and I have your friends as insurance, so why don't you just politely die for me." she said smugly.

Sora had been tapping his foot impatiently the entire time Azula was talking. "Are you done? If you've heard one evil speech you've heard them all geez. Just capture me already so we can move things along."

Azula sneered at Sora. "Stupid savage. Ty Lee, put them to bed. Mai, tie them up." she ordered.

Ty Lee leapt over to Toph and assaulted her pressure points causing her to collapse on the ground.

"God dammit Bigfoot you better have a good plan, I'm not dying for anyone." Toph complained.

Ty Lee then hopped over to Sora as Mai tied Toph up.

"Wowie, you are like super hot now that I see you up close. Azula, can I keep this one, pretty please!" Ty Lee said.

"No flirting with the enemy, we talked about this already Ty Ty." Azula said with an eye role.

"Boo hoo~" Ty Lee whined.

She went to attack Sora's pressure points, but found that her fingers would not sink in past his steel muscles.

"Uh, this guy is too lean to properly chi block." Ty Lee said surprised.

"Too lean? Ugh I'll just do it myself" Mai said, bitching the entire way to Sora.

She pulled a small knife out of her sleeve and hit Sora with the handle. It had no effect. "The fuck?"

"If you two are quite finished, ladies." Azula said, striding up to Sora. She was curious as to why he had been quite all of this time.

In reality, Sora was doing everything in his power to not rip off Azula's face with his teeth. Merely speaking would have pushed him past the edge.

Azula had to admit, in the better light of the throne room she could appreciate how handsome Sora really was. That and remembering the power he displayed before reignited her inner flame. She grabbed his neck and led him to the throne. She sat on the throne and commanded him to kiss her feet, which were now bare. Sora weighed his options. He could literally eat all three of them, but he didn't know what that would mean for Yuffie and Katara. Or he could play along, and ensure his friends safety. In hindsight it was never a choice.

Sora got on his knees and coddled Azula's feet. He raised them while dipping his head down to kiss them. Azula nearly creamed herself right there, the rush of having such a powerful being kissing her feet almost too much to take. She bit her lips so hard it drew blood, and her sharp nails dug into the lavish throne cushions.

Sora kissed her feet at first. Then he started massaging them, eliciting appreciative moans for her. He let his tongue slip between her toes and kissed the tips of them as he went between them. She was feeling better than ever before, and she was pretty sure her panties were ruined at this point. Then her bliss was broken by Mai's dead monotone voice.

"Azula we are supposed to take them prisoner, not fuck them." she said.

Azula kicked Sora in the face and pushed him off of her. She tried to get up but felt her legs unsteady under her, so sat back down. "Just take them to the cave. And if you two try anything funny, I'll kill the earth king!"

Mai pulled Sora up by the hair and dragged him along while Ty Lee dragged Toph who was cursing up a storm.

As they exited the room Azula tried to catch her breath. She had fallen to the deadliest trap without her even realizing it.

'I need more of him' she thought lustfully.

* * *

Author's Note:

Another set up chapter, but big battles next chapter! Poor Azula has fallen prey to the oldest trick in the book. Seduction. Wonder how it'll cloud her judgement hmmmm. Till next time!


	12. Leaves From The Vine

Author's Note

Finally a fight this chapter! Gonna move things along finally. Going forward, things will get substantially darker and this will be the only trigger warning I make. If anyone would like me to go out of my way to give a heads up with scenes that fit into this warning, let me know. Otherwise, let the decent into darkness continue!

* * *

Azula confidently strode up to a quaint little tea shop in the middle ring of Ba Sing Se. She entered the establishment and heard singing. She sat at a table and waited for a server while listening to a fat old man sing his song.

"_Leaves from the vine,_

_Falling so slow,_

_Like tiny fragile shells, _

_Lapping in the foam,_

_Little soldier boy, _

_Come marching home,_

_Brave soldier boy,_

_Comes marching home~"_

She heard the many customers erupt into cheers of various levels, from clapping to downright crying in emotion. 'Disgusting'. She looked around and saw him, the one she had come for.

"Azula, what are you doing here?" Zuko growled out. He was not happy to see his sister at all.

"My my Zuzu, after all this time you can't even be happy to see me. And I came bearing such good news as well." Azula said, fake hurt on her face.

"Cut the crap, what do you want Azula?" Zuko said getting to the point.

She smiled. "I want to give you the honor of slaying the Avatar."

Zuko's eyes widened in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I have the avatar's friends in a cell. I have also overtaken the earth king's palace, and have their secret military force under my control. We can take over this entire city by nightfall, all we need to do is take out the one person who can stop us. And I want you to have the honor of doing it." she told him.

"You'd let me kill the avatar? When you could get all that glory for yourself?" Zuko asked, skeptical.

"Yes. I've done a lot already. Secure the death of the avatar, and father will welcome you back with open arms, the entire nation will hail you as a hero, and the rightful successor." she said.

As Zuko mulled this over, Iroh saw them at the table and joined them. "Well, if it isn't my esteemed niece. What could bring you to our humble tea shop, way out here?" he asked, on edge.

"Uncle. I'm here for Zuko, giving him a shot to restore his honor. Something you would know nothing about." she said venomously. "You have poisoned poor Zuzu's mind with your shameful ideologies."

"There is nothing shameful about trying to broker peace in a devastated world. It is the fire lord who should be ashamed." Iroh shot back.

"Don't talk about my father like that!" Zuko shouted at Iroh, causing Azula to smile.

"Zuko, don't you see by now? He does not love you, and she does not care for you." Iroh tried to reason with him.

"My father will love me, when I bring him the corpse of the avatar." Zuko said, walking over to stand by Azula.

"Zuko please, Azula always lies! The fire lord has no love for you, he proved that when he challenged his only son to an agni kai!" Iroh pleaded.

"Zuko, as a gesture of loyalty why don't you arrest the traitor? After all, as prince of the fire nation it is your duty to detain traitors and stop their treasonous babblings." Azula ordered.

"Zuko, I have stuck by you through everything, but if you go down this path I can not follow you. Please reconsider." Iroh begged him.

"Zuko you have to know, you were always just a replacement for his own son, our dearly departed cousin. Iroh doesn't care about you, you just fill a spot." Azula said cruelly.

Iroh began to tear up at the mention of his late son. The fight in him vanished and he slumped forward, reminded of his loss. Zuko made up his mind.

"My father will love me, you can never replace him you old washed up man. You will serve as an excellent gift for the fire lord." Zuko said, as he restrained his uncle.

As the three exited the shop, people grew loud with shock and anger with what was happening. Azula turned around and set the tea shop on fire with a large flame. She laughed as Zuko couldn't bring himself to look upon the blaze.

* * *

Iroh sat in a crystal cave along with Sora, Toph and Katara. They were all waiting for Aqua and Aang to return. Nobody knew where Yuffie was, and it was grating heavily on Sora's nerves. He hadn't spoken to anyone since being put in the cave.

"Your nephew has hunted us across the world and tried to kill us at every turn! Well now he has finally done it, the first chance I get I am drowning that sonava bitch!" Katara fumed at Iroh.

"Please Katara, have mercy on him. He is just a misguided youth, in his heart there is still good." Iroh pleaded.

Sora heard what Iroh said and remembered how people talked about Xehanort. He blew up on Iroh.

"Misguided!? It doesn't take perfect parents and proper upbringing to understand hurting people is bad! I don't care how fucked up his life was! As a matter of fact, I'm fucking over this entire thing!" Sora said. His breath picked up and his hands tightened in on themselves, almost completely closed.

Sora blew the entire roof above them with a scream to the heavens. The roof, the floor above that, and the roof above that were all obliterated from the deep cave they were in and the sky could be seen high up above. Sora was ready to jump out when Azula burst through the door and shot a bolt of lightning at him. Sora grabbed the bolt from the air and extinguished it with a flex of his fist. Azula then engaged him with a strong lounge, blasting a funnel of blue flames at him.

Sora weaved around the fire with practiced ease and met her lounge with a fist to her stomach. Azula buckled to help absorb the blow and used his wrist to handstand and axe kick the top of his head. Sora moved his head at the last second and caught her foot between his head and his shoulder, tossing her like a rag doll in an uncanny display of technique and strength. Azula flipped in the air and landed feet first against the wall. She rolled onto the ground and attacked Sora with punches and kicks backed by fire.

Sora felt the darkness begin to creep into his veins. He was so furious at everything and everyone's incompetence. He blurred out of Azula's field of vision and came up behind her with a strong heavy jackhammer against her temple. Azula flew forward and failed to catch herself as she landed hard into the stone and green gems that lined the cave. Bloodied and bruised, she noticed as Zuko came into the cove.

"Finally! Zuko kill this bastard! He is a threat to our plan and both of our honor!" Azula screamed at him, hoping for just a moment's rest.

Zuko wasted no time in engaging Sora and drew two blades from his back. Zuko was a whirlwind of steel and fire as he threw a barrage of attacks at Sora, combining his close quarters combat experience with his fire bending. Sora was unfazed however, and bended earth from the ground into bracers to chip away at the swords with every guard. After thirty seconds of blocking, Zuko's swords shattered and he was left open. Sora wasted no time and struck out with a lance of black fire directly to his chest.

"No!"

Iroh had yelled out and dove in front of the black flames, dispelling them with lightning infused fire of his own special making.

"I will not lose another young man to this war, to violence! I beg you Sora, stand down!" Iroh said, though he knew it was no use.

"Dammit uncle! I don't need your help!" Zuko yelled angrily, shooting a hot flame at Iroh's back.

Iroh deftly parried the flame and swiped it away. "I don't need your permission to love you, nephew."

"ARRRGH!" Zuko cried out, hurling fire at Iroh and Sora.

Azula took this chance to charge up lightning and shot bolt after bolt at Sora. Sora dodged most of them, and grabbed the last bolt in his hands. He channeled dark fire into it and threw it back at her. It flew like a missle and destroyed the area Azula just rolled away from. Iroh spat flames from his mouth to fry Sora, and Zuko was on the opposite side of Sora throwing flames unrelentingly. Azula jumped up and from above Sora let down a torrent of azure flames at him. Sora dashed to the side and evaded all of the flames, an explosion occurring where it all met. Sora rushed Azula and dragged her out of the sky.

Sora's skin was turning black as he sat atop Azula. He began smashing her face in, ignoring the fire she threw at him. Zuko came from the side and kicked Sora off of Azula, and Iroh shoulder bashed Sora even further away. The three of them panted heavily and marvelled at how one person could run circles around them.

"Looks like you're age is catching up with you old man." Azula taunted Iroh.

"Ha! I am old and fat, so what's your excuse?" he shot back playfully.

"This guy is unreal. And what the hell is up with this shadow stuff on his skin?" Zuko commented.

"Doesn't matter, here he comes!" Azula barely finished talking when Sora dashed between the three of them.

Sora kicked both Zuko and Iroh in the face with such force Azula could hear their noses breaking. They were sent flying and Sora landed an elbow on Azula's forehead, slicing open her eyebrow and sending her stumbling backwards from the blunt force. Azula couldn't bring back her focus in time to evade Sora's clawed hand that bashed against her cheek, peeling part of her skin off while sending her flying away like the others. Azula began to feel panic as she slammed against the wall once more. Doubt finally made itself known in her heart, and in desperation she pulled out the wayfinder Wonder had given her. She was just able to call out to Wonder as Sora charged her with a lance of solid black flames.

"WONDER!"

Light exploded from Azula, and it halted Sora's charge so bright it was. The darkness peeled off of Sora is slabs of shadow and he was left gritting his teeth in pain because the light burned. Where Azula once stood, broken and nearly dead, now stood a 7 foot tall woman with burning red skin. Her form was naked with only fire for skin. Her hair was a long flowing flame, dreads bundled with black steel clips. Her eyes were two suns that set heat to whatever she gazed upon. Upon her chest was a decent sized hole in the shape of a heart.

'A heartless?' Sora thought to himself.

"**This power. I feel as if my very being is pure flame!" **Azula spoke. Her voice roared like a forest fire.

Wonder appeared next to Azula, and stretched casually.

"Wow fire cracker, I thought you'd never call on me. Sora was really laying into you Azula, and the other two as well. How do you like the power boost? You had so much darkness in you it was a breeze bringing it all out." Wonder said.

"**Quiet spirit! With this power I will rule the world! But first, I will make you mine Sora! Your power and your body will be mine!" **Azula proclaimed, and rushed towards Sora.

"Dear oh dear, pride cometh before the fall." Wonder said with a smirk.

Katara and Toph could only watch in amazement at the fight so far. They simply could not keep up with the level of combat that was going on.

"These people are monsters…" Katara said.

"No kidding. Now there's a spirit? Azula feels huge now!" Toph said, equal parts terrified and excited.

"Sora was holding all three of them off with such ease, but now he is getting pushed by Azula. We might have to help regardless. We can't just stand on the side lines." Katara said, readying herself for a deadly battle.

"Not so fast sugar lips, we would be in Sora's way. If we are going to help, we do it from here. Discreetly." Toph said. "Like this"

Toph felt the battle raging before her. She focused on Azula's steps. They felt hot even through the ground, but she was a bit slower due to her size. Toph anticipated her steps and raised some earth to trip her, which worked.

Azula felt her foot hit a large rock and she stumbled, falling over slightly. Sora felt the shift in the earth while it was happening and timed an uppercut to catch Azula as she fell forward. Angered, Azula unleashed a tidal wave of white flames from her mouth at Sora. Sora raised an earth wall and reinforced it with a weaved pattern. The fire slammed into the wall, destroying it, but it did it's job and absorbed most of the danger.

Zuko noticed Toph's intervention and went to stop her. Zuko leap up ignoring his broken nose, and attacked Toph. Katara drew water from her pouch and blocked the flames he shot with it. Toph responded with boulder after boulder at Zuko, but was caught and restrained by Iroh.

"Get off of me old man or I'll break your back!" Toph yelled at him.

"I am sorry young lady, but I can not allow anyone to hurt my nephew. Please understand, we all must protect the things we love" Iroh told her.

"Well it's a good thing you love your nephew more than your back!" Toph said. She slammed her head on the ground, forcing the earth to rise up in an angled pillar and slam into Iroh's mid-back.

Iroh cried out in pain as his back gave out, and he fell over Toph and writhed.

"Uncle! No!" Zuko screamed.

Zuko ignored Katara and rolled away from her, coming up to Toph and shooting a barrage of fire at her. His attacks were hastened and furious, all Toph could do was make a dome of earth to protect herself. Zuko jumped up and slammed a fire covered fist through the dome and unleashed a powerful stream of flames. The dome became a furnace for Toph, and her screams pierced Katara's ears.

Just then, a portal of darkness appeared in the middle of the cave. Aang and Aqua rushed out of it, and took stock of the battle field. Azula and Sora were locked in a power struggle with their hands interlocked. Katara was crying and calling out for Aang. An old man was on the floor twisting and turning. Zuko was standing over Toph's smoking body.

"Aang! Zuko is the one who killed Appa! And he just burned Toph alive!" Katara cried out, emotionally unstable.

Aang's eyes widened and he turned to Zuko and took a closer look at Toph. He saw she had burns and part of her hair was singed off. The extent of the damage was great, and Toph's life was in jeopardy. That coupled with the knowledge that it was Zuko who killed Appa sent Aang over the edge. His eyes and arrow tattoos began to glow, and he floated up in the air with strong winds carrying him. He was able to trigger the avatar state, but it was due to strong negative emotions and he had no real control.

Iroh looked on in horror and agony. "Zuko run! The avatar will kill you!"

"No! I have to kill the avatar and restore my honor!" Zuko said.

Zuko walked away from Toph and toward Aang. He did not make it two steps before he was blown harshly away by a gale. Zuko slammed meatily against the cave wall,and was immediately held in place by stone spiked hands that gripped his wrists and ankles. The spikes dug into his flesh drawing blood and causing pain. Aang flew right into Zuko, slamming his body into his chest. Zuko coughed up blood from his punctured organs, and he wheezed for breath.

Aang spoke in a voice layered a thousand times. "**It was like this, wasn't it?"**

Aang spread a thin layer of fire along Zuko's skin, frying it into angry red blisters. "**This is how you killed my family."**

Aang grabbed Zuko's throat roughly, causing blisters there to pop and cause more pain. "**A thousand Avatar's judge you, prince Zuko. We find you guilty for murder, and wanton cruelty. Your punishment will be the remove of your soul from the cycle, your Final Death"**

Aang placed his free thumb on Zuko's forehead, and forced his will onto Zuko's soul. Iroh looked on in dismay as Zuko's body slowly began glowing with white light, no doubt signifying his soul being purged. Iroh debated within himself on what to do. He was never going to really harm anyone, but to save his nephew now would require nothing short of killing the avatar. As he saw Zuko almost completely white, he made his decision.

Katara looked on in horror as Iroh shot a large bolt of lightning at Aang. She wailed as Aang shook violently, and fell away from Zuko and onto the floor. Aqua had seen what had happened, but was too slow to stop the attack. Instead she rushed over to Aang and caught him before he could hit the ground. She immediately rushed him to Katara and they both started healing him as best they could.

Sora saw Katara pick up Toph. Aqua then made a portal and the four of them escaped. Sora saw the portal close and let out a sigh of relief. Now he could fight for real.

"**Your comrades have abandoned you, you are alone, and I am far more powerful than you! You have no hope, the battle is lost for you. Submit to me now!" **Azula commanded.

"Where is Yuffie, what have you done to her?" Sora demanded, completely unfazed by her taunt.

"**The little wench should be with the fire lord as we speak. I presented her as a gift for him. She had quite the fight in her, but once I told her I had a way to kill you she settled down enough. She should be doing whatever she's told, and the fire lord is not known for being gentle. She will be used up and discarded, and she will let it happen all for you! HAhahahaHAhahahHahaha!"** Azula laughed.

Wonder sighed from her seat on a nearby rock. "Azula, why'd you have to run your big mouth. Now you've done it…"

"Okay. Then I have no reason to hold back and waste any more time. Co**me Darkness"** Sora said. He exploded into a dark ball that quickly faded to reveal a shadow version of himself.

Sora charged Azula and clamped his now sharp teeth on her neck. Azula grabbed him and set him on fire but he did not let go. She felt something entering her body from the bite wound, something like a poison. She willed her skin to release golden flame from every pore in a massive explosion that finally pushed Sora away. Sora flipped and sent spears of darkness towards her and she burned them to ash with waves of her hand. She noticed Iroh pick up Zuko and make to leave, but decided to leave them be. She figured it couldn't hurt to have more pawns available. Her thoughts were interrupted when Sora's ice encased fist punched her jaw.

Sora then followed up with 359 strikes, punches kicks and slashes all aimed at Azula's joints. Despite having the power of a god, Azula still had a mortal body and Sora had destroyed the joints that held it together. She fell on her knees and no matter how much she willed it her body would not respond. Sora stood over her and covered the tips of his claws in hardened darkness.

"**SUBMIT!"**

"Not so fast handsome!" Wonder said, grabbing Sora's hand mid-strike.

"**YOU!" **he roared, spinning into a back hand that Wonder ducked under.

Wonder engaged Sora with a kick to his knee that made him buckle. She followed up with an elbow and knee to the face and launched him with a powerful roundhouse kick. Sora rolled to a stop and poured darkness onto the floor, covering the entire cave with his ebony will. The walls lashed out with spikes by the dozens, all intent on skewering Wonder and the downed Azula. Wonder quickly threw the 7 foot Azula over her shoulder and evaded all the spikes with ease. Seeing Sora becoming too powerful for her while lugging Azula around, Wonder wasted no time in fading into the spirit world with Azula.

Sora saw her fade away, and his rage spewed forth like a supervolcano. With an earth shattering roar he destroyed the entire palace and everything in the city within a mile radius, burying himself under countless tonnes of rock and dirt.

* * *

Sora appeared next to Aqua on a ship. Sora was back to normal, and looked around. He saw many men dressed in blue clothing walking about, and noticed Toph and Aang laying on the floor with Katara tending to them.

"How bad is it?" Sora said, asking about their condition.

"It was very bad, but we were able to heal them properly to a stable state. Aang will get off with a scar on his back, but Toph will have much more scarring and some of her hair won't grow back either." Aqua answered. She turned to him with a concerned look on her face. "How are you? Where is Yuffie?"

"Yuffie has been captured by the fire lord. She is being forced to be his concubine. But it's not so simple right now." Sora answered.

"Not that simple? We need to save her now! I know exactly what she's going through and we can't let this happen!" Aqua said in panic.

"Hey, it's okay. Where she comes from, this is par the course. She is trained to deal with this." Sora started, but Aqua cut him off.

"Trained to be raped?!" she yelled at him.

"She is trained to endure whatever she must. Like I said, it is not that simple. Wonder is helping them out under the guise of a spirit and I don't know why. But she is very strong and only I can hope to be a match for her. But, if she is here, that must also mean we are close to the heart of pure gold. That has to be it. Do not forget our mission." Sora finished strenly.

"Our mission is to help people." she said hotly.

"Our mission is to save the World. To think it would go smoothly or without sacrifice is unrealistic. I want nothing more than to just destroy the entire planet right now, but it isn't everyone's fault. It is the fire nation's. And once we have a solid plan for defeating Wonder, we will see that we get what's ours." Sora told her.

Aqua sighed heavily. She was frustrated that nothing was ever simple. She felt Sora wrap his strong arms around her and she leaned into him. There would be time to fight later. Now they should rest.

* * *

Weeks passed and the repercussions of the invasion were felt. Azula had finished taking over the city with the help of the Dai Lee. To her relief, Wonder had healed her while they were in the spirit world, then returned her back to the moral world. She then found where Zuko and her uncle were hiding. She convinced her uncle to come back to the kingdom, as he would be seen as the hero who killed the avatar. Iroh, feeling shame for his part in all this, simply let himself be led. Zuko's whole body was wrapped in bandages and he was in excruciating pain all the time. His skin was burned off and his fat and muscles were exposed to the elements. Azula tried to contact Wonder once more, but she didn't respond. Once she established a firm fire nation presence, she sailed back to the fire nation to give a proper report. She brought Zuko and Iroh with her.

Azula had spent many nights thinking on Sora, and the power he possessed while heading home. Even with the help of a great spirit, Azula was still soundly beaten. She felt herself get excited at the memory of getting every joint in her body shattered. The precision, the speed, the power was enough to throw her over the edge every night. As the ship neared port, she gave up on contacting Wonder, figuring if she wanted to be found she would be.

Azula disembarked and went to the palace immediately to speak to her father. Zuko was visibly nervous, and Iroh seemed disconnected from his surroundings. She pondered on how she would present them to the fire lord. She had no love for her uncle, and was sure she could get him thrown into jail with the proper bait. Zuko would be more useful at her side, something to play with when she was bored if nothing else. They made it to the palace and were brought to the fire lord's throne room.

"Azula, I hear you have finally claimed the great city of Ba Sing Se. Is this true?" Ozai asked.

"Indeed father, through my efforts the city finally belongs to the fire nation." Azula said. She then explained all the details to him.

"I see. You have done a great deed, and have earned more honor than most. Even my 'esteemed' brother. Tell me, why is my ex-son and the dragon of the west in my presence?" Ozai sneered.

Zuko turned to Azula in panic, but she cooly answered Ozai. "Father, it was thanks to both of them that my plan succeeded. They were just as important as I was to claiming the city. I know they have restored their honor with their actions just as surely as I have earned my own."

"You said the avatar was killed. Who delivered the killing blow?" Ozai asked.

Azula and Zuko stood there waiting for Iroh to speak.

"Well? Why do you test my patience?" Ozai said, fire coming alive in front of him in his annoyance.

"Father, it was Zuko who killed the avatar." Azula lied.

Zuko looked at her in surprise, then looked to Iroh. Iroh simply stood there.

"Not only did he kill the avatar, he killed him while he was in the avatar state. According to the Fire Sages this effectively ended the avatar cycle, so now there will be no one the threaten our rule." Azula added.

"Zuko, you have done the fire nation a great service. I see you have not done so without paying a price. Our healers will tend to you. I hereby reinstate you as prince of the fire nation. I am proud to call you my son once more." Ozai declared.

Zuko felt tears gather in his eyes and the salt from them burned his raw face. But he was happy, and glad to finally be accepted again. So much so he let the lie go and decided to take the glory for himself.

"Thank you father. I have never stopped searching for the avatar, and I have finally completed the mission you have given to me. I am home." he said with a bow.

Azula smirked in victory as she peeked at Iroh. 'This old man should rot. He is useless.'

"Father, I am afraid there is some bad news in all of this." Azula said, faking a frown.

"Oh? Too much to ask for perfection is it?" Ozai snided,

"The operation was flawless. It's uncle, he hasn't been the same since the fight. The avatar's friend hit him pretty hard, I fear he may have brain damage. It might be best to put him in a facility where they could tend to him." she explained.

"That is unfortunate. But if he is truly invalid, he will only be a burden. Azula, have it arranged." Ozai ordered.

Zuko was scared for his uncle, because he knew the facilities they used for the mentally ill or otherwise invalids were little more than prisons to get them out of sight. Still, he chose not to say anything.

* * *

Aang caught Aqua's attack and threw the water back after freezing it into a spear. Aqua let the spear hit her palm and melted it as it made contact. She gripped the water and made it into a long whip. Sora grinned in amusement as she whipped and lashed at Aang. Aang danced and cried out in yelps as he was hit and bruised by the whip. He sent a wave of fire that evaporated the whip and sent rocks through the steam of flame to hit Aqua. Aqua reached into the microscopic pockets of water trapped within the rock, and imploded them. She swiped her hand through the air and gathered the precipitation in it. She threw the small amount of water in ice needles that hit Aang in the chest, immediately melting afterwards.

"Aw! Dammit that hurt!" Aang said. Katara was already at his side healing his wounds.

"You have to be more resourceful. Don't always assume the element will be readily available. You have to know where to look to find it in a pinch." Aqua instructed Aang.

"I'm trying okay. You are really strong and it's not like you are holding back." Aang protested.

"Well it's not like the fire lord will hold back on you. If you don't train hard you won't be ready when the time comes." Sora said from the sidelines.

"What about you? Shouldn't you be out here with us training?" Aang said.

"No, unfortunately none of you could keep up with me enough for me to get a proper work out. I'm comfortable sitting right here." Sora said, laying back with his hands behind his head.

"I hate to say it Aang, but he is right. You were not around for most of the fight, but toe to toe I don't think anyone could actually beat him. I still don't know why you won't let him help you fight the fire lord." Katara said.

"No! The fire lord is mine!" Aang said.

Sora perked up his head at Aang's outburst. He felt the budding of darkness inside Aang, and it made him worry for him. "Aang, you can get your revenge. But remember you are also getting justice. Justice for all those hurt by this war."

Aang sighed. "I know, I know. Just, it's my job to restore balance. And I will."

"I know you will." Aqua said smiling at Aang.

"Well if you're going to get anything, it's going to be in three days. That is when the invasion begins. I suggest we all eat sleep and train as much as we can." Sokka said.

"Right. Aqua, this time you and Katara come at me!" Aang said in gusto.

"You guys have fun with that, I'm gonna go check on Toph." Sora said. He got up and made his way to a tent made of steel not too far off.

Sora approached the tent and knocked heartily.

"Hey Toph, how are you doing?" he asked.

"Go away Sora. I don't need you to baby me. Gosh." she replied.

"I'm not babying you, I'm just checking up on you. You're my friend after all." he said.

"Please, you pity me. Even sugar queen isn't pestering me as much as you are. Well I don't need your pity, the poor blind burnt girl can do just fine on her own!" Toph shouted, clearly upset.

Sora was worried for Toph a great deal. Ever since the fight she has been withdrawn, and cold to everyone. She was bitter, and Sora knew what that felt like. Everything tasted like ash in your mouth. But he didn't pity her. He had no doubt she was just as powerful as ever, maybe even more so with her newfound rage. Before she was just skilled, but she never had the pure anger to push her beyond her limits.

"I don't pity you Toph, I just want to have a normal conversation. Is that so bad?" he tried to reason.

"Why? It must be hard looking at me at all. I can feel my body, the burns and rough skin. I'm riddled with scars. I was lucky my feet took almost no damage, or I would really be blind. I don't think I could live like that. I can barely live like this…" Toph said, depression seeping into her voice.

Suddenly, she was pushed onto the ground by a bump of metal that shot up from under her.

"Hey what the hell!?" Toph screamed at Sora.

"You accuse me of pitying you, but I think you're the one pitying yourself. So you got burned, so what! You're still super pretty, and anyone who says otherwise can just eat your dust. So come on, show me you still have some fight in you mud pie!" Sora taunted.

Growling, Toph gripped at the metal ship beneath her and tossed a piece at Sora ripping through her tent. "Stop it, it's not funny."

Sora blew the metal chunk right back at Toph three fold and it hit painfully against her still healing flesh. "Make me."

Enraged, Toph jumped up and slammed into the floor. This caused the ship to rise like a wave towards Sora and he let himself fall over. Toph leap onto Sora and began pounding his face in. His blood mixed with her tears and after a few minutes she was barely tapping him.

"Why, why do bad things happen to me? Why am I blind? Why do I have to fight?" Toph sobbed, pushing her face into Sora's shirt.

"Things just happen. The measure of a person is determined by how they respond. You are strong, and I believe in you so much. There is nothing you can not do." Sora reassured her.

"D-do you really mean that? Don't lie to me to make you feel better! I can take being in pain, and I can take a hard life. But I can't take a friend lying to me." she whispered to him.

In response Sora hugged her gently, mindful of her burns. "Toph I promise I believe in you, and will always support you and be by your side no matter what."

Toph let out a long sigh and settled down. "Okay. Alright well, enough of this mushy crap. We still have a war to win right?"

"Damn right we do. There's an avatar that doesn't know how to metal bend. You should go do something about that." Sora said.

"You bet I should!" Toph said, getting up and making her way to the top deck.

Sora sat where he was for a while longer, thinking of what he should do to be most helpful. He hated the idea of Yuffie being in pain, but he knew she was always most concerned about the mission as a whole. She's said as much before, but it didn't make it any easier. He thought of Aqua, and how different she felt. Where as before she was resisting the darkness, now it was as if she accepted it. Overall she felt happier for it, so he was glad it worked out for her. One thing kept bothering him though.

"For a world as unbalanced as this one, besides Azula I haven't seen a single heartless."

Just then, the ship rocked violently and a monstrous roar shook the steel.


	13. That's Mine!

Sora rushed back where everyone was and asked what was going on.

"There's a large monster circling the ship! It's gonna cap size us with we don't do something" Sokka yelled at Sora.

Sora looked at the men in blue clothing as they hurled spears and arrows in an attempt to deter the beast. He felt the roar the beast gave as it jumped high in the air and flopped back down in the sea, churning the waters. He noticed the heartless symbol it had on its stomach while it was in the air.

"I was wondering when they would show up." Aqua said,

"Yeah that was probably my bad, I may have jinxed it haha…" Sora said

Rolling her eyes, Aqua turned to the men and Katara who had joined them. "You might as well stop. There is only one thing that can defeat this monster." she told them, summoning her keyblade. When it settled on her hand she looked in surprise at it. Her keyblade took the form of a long pole arm with a blade at the end. The pole was blue with black swirling designs and a silver blade at the end.

"Wow you just magically summoned a Naginata!" Sora said excitedly. "Me next me next!" he said, calling forth his own keyblade. He felt the weight and immediately knew it was different than usual. The light faded to reveal a very long blade held by a very long handle. The blade was five feet long with golden trim on the edge and the handle was three feet long and black with a diamond design of rope for grip wrapped around it. "Sweet! I got a nodachi! Though the handle is a bit long and there's more blade. Still, sweet!"

The group looked at Sora and Aqua in amazement. "You guys are all magical! That's cool and all, but can you take care of this beast?!" Sokka cried out as the heartless bashed against the ship.

"Sure. Watch this. Aqua, get me a clear shot babe! Now that my keyblade is in my hands again I'm feeling pumped!" Sora said.

"Sure thing!" Aqua said. She trapped the large heartless in a bubble of water and lifted it out of the water and into the air in front of the boat.

"Alright! Now everyone but Toph watch closely!" Sora shouted as he ran forward and jumped towards the heartless.

"**Ars Arcanum!" ** Sora yelled in a battle cry. What followed was a series of deadly strikes pronounced by trails of light, all hitting the heartless. With a final yell, Sora cut the monster in half, releasing the heart trapped within and dispelling the beast. Sora flipped all the way back down and landed in a pose. "Ta-da! How was my superhero landing?"

"Honestly, you could have waited a few more seconds before you stood up to draw out the tension. 6/10" Toph said, amused at Sora's playfulness.

"Aw come on! I did my best, I've only done it once or twice before." he complained.

"What was that? And how did you move like that? It was like you were suspended in the air or something for the duration of your attacks." Katara said, still in awe of the show.

"That was a heartless. It's what happens when someone gives in to the darkness inside them. They lose their hearts, and become a monster like you saw. The body left behind also becomes an empty husk called a nobody. The power of these creatures depend on the power of the person who made them. Very powerful people create truly frightening monsters with unique powers, and the most elite are able to maintain their minds making them all the more dangerous." Aqua explained.

"Darkness? A husk? Sounds like a vengeful spirit and cursed souls" Aang said, remembering his monk training.

"Well whatever you call them, at least for the heartless only a keyblade can truly beat them. I guess you can say it releases them from their curse of whatever is keeping them from passing on in your terms." Sora told them.

"So basically, magic monsters that get beaten by your magic weapons. Easy enough to understand." Sokka said.

"I guess it really is that simple, huh." Sora said.

"Well at any rate, we should go and try to hunt down some heartless. I have a feeling that the fire nation has something to do with this as does Wonder. We should help people in danger and at the same time we will be lowering the enemies numbers." Aqua said to Sora.

"Well if nothing else, I at least know I should always be getting rid of the heartless. Sounds like a plan." Sora said, nodding. "Alright guys, it seems like there are heartless running about now, so Aqua and I need to go and handle them. We will meet you at the randevu in three days time. Deal?"

"Aw you're leaving already Big Foot?" Toph said.

"Yeah but I'll be back mud pie!" Sora responded.

"Alright, then we will see you both there. Don't be late!" Sokka said.

Sora and Aqua jumped over the boat and ran across the water towards land. "We won't!"

"Wait, did Sora just walk on water?" Katara asked, as Toph nervously chuckled.

* * *

Zuko walked under the cover of night, cloaked in a heavy robe and hood. He approached a building, and nodded to the guard that stood outside one of the cells. The guard let Zuko in, and he entered walking up to a cage inside the room. He got on his knees and laid food before the person inside.

"Uncle, I brought you some fresh fruit and tea leaves. I know it has to beat what they serve you here." Zuko said.

Iroh sat in silence, his head hung low and his body slumped over.

"Why haven't you said anything since we have returned? You even let Azula throw you into this prison for crazy people. Why did you let me take the credit? Why aren't you doing anything!?" Zuko yelled at him, frustrated.

Iroh did not move or give any hint that he even heard what Zuko was saying.

"Fine, then you can rot in here for all I care! I know I made the right choices, and I found my way back home!" Zuko declared. He then got up and stormed out.

Iroh sat there, a single tear running down his face. Once the door was closed, he shot up from the ground. His ragged clothes fell off of him revealing a hulking physique. He jumped high and grabbed onto the bars above him, doing pull ups.

"I was too weak to save my son, and I was too weak to save you. Looking back, my life has been nothing but failures. I will never be weak again. I will restore the balance I have disrupted…" he spoke in a low voice.

* * *

Sora was engaged in combat with multiple heartless. The most common ones looked like hunched over fish with tentacles for limbs. Their bodies were flat and they darted around like arrows in spear like attacks. They only came up to Sora's knees, but they always traveled in packs. Sora cast a large thundaga spell by beckoning the heat in the sky. He felt the air thicken and charge, and thick powerful bolts struck his enemies down.

"Wow I will never get tired of that! It's like nature itself is responding to my will, instead of it coming from my mana pool. It's free spells basically, so much stronger than wisdom form with Donald." he said.

Aqua created a large vortex of fire around her and slammed into multiple targets, incinerating them on contact. "I know, it feels great and so much smoother than traditional magic." Aqua said.

While this was going on, the people of the town they were helping looked on in awe and slight fear. To the townsfolk, Sora and Aqua were gods in human skin, bending nature freely. As the last of the shadow creatures were defeated, the people threw themselves onto the floor in reverence. The mayor spoke to them as they approached.

"Oh great spirits, we lay ourselves in your presence! Thank you for your kindness and assistance! You have destroyed those monsters and healed our sick, what can we offer you to please you?" the man spoke in a loud dramatic voice.

"Hey now, we just want to help. Treat each other fairly and take care of one another. These creatures feed off of negativity. I know sometimes bad things happen, and it's easier to give in to the bad feelings, but you need to be strong. Friends are powerful. Just not being alone is enough to get you through the hardest times. So take care of yourselves, and hold each other up." Sora said, addressing the entire group of people.

"But my lord, the war presses heavy on our hearts. We have lost so much, loved ones and land. How could we possibly take heart in these times?" one woman called out.

"You won't have to worry about this war for much longer. We are friends with the avatar, and we have a plan to overthrow the fire nation and beat them once and for all." Aqua said.

"But such a feat would be impossible, there is no beating the phoenix king!" an elderly man cried out, riling up over people who grew worried.

"Listen, in three days time there will be a solar eclipse. During this time, the fire nation will be cut off from their fire bending. This will be the best and only chance we will get at taking them down. We will invade the fire nation king's palace itself and conquer it!" Sora reassured them.

The crowd exploded into talk of the fire nation being vulnerable, and Aqua took this chance to do what she thought might help them in the long run.

"Exactly! It's only for a few minutes, but with proper planning, even regular folks like you can fight toe to toe with the fire nation! You need to spread the word, tell others about the eclipse, and use the opportunity to fight back! Take no prisoners, because once the eclipse is over they will be able to fire bend again. Strike back hard and swiftly, and take no prisoners!" Aqua said.

"You'll have us kill them when they can not fight back?" the mayor looked up and asked her.

"I would have you only do what they did to you." she said sternly.

The people spoke in hushed words and began to actually feel hopeful.

"Thank you for your blessings. We will carry out your will, and spread the word of this plan. We will organize, and take back everything!" the mayor said, gaining cheers from his people.

"Good. Go in peace, and hold Sora's words close to your heart. May your heart be your guiding key." Aqua said with a bow.

Sora waved goodbye to the people and started to walk away with Aqua.

* * *

As Sora walked under the light of the full moon he wondered why Aqua was so intense when it came to him. He felt like some messiah earlier today with the way she talked about him.

"So Aqua, how are you feeling? How have you been? You feel different, lighter." Sora started.

"I am okay. I'm with you after all." she smiled, and Sora felt his heart warm up. "This world is pretty crazy, but we have dealt with crazy before. I am eager to help it out and restore order as soon as we can. I just hope Yuffie can hold out."

"She will. I'm forcing myself to be calm about it, but she trained me a while ago. She shared stories of her life, how she handled impossible missions and always put it's success before everything. To her, if you toss the plan because something doesn't go right, you will lose sight of your purpose and your original goals will be lost. Though to be honest, I'd be surprised if when we got there she isn't the one sitting on the king's throne." Sora said with a chuckle.

"Wow, so that's how it is huh? I guess I can just put it out of my mind then. What will our roles be during the invasion?" Aqua asked.

"It looks like we would be best suited for the front lines. The eclipse is only going to last for a few minutes, and we need to get Aang physically to the fire lord before then to take complete advantage of it. So we can pave the way while the enemy still has their bending, that way our friends won't be in as much danger." Sora said.

"Are we taking any prisoners?" Aqua asked.

"No ma'am. If evil causes more evil, we will just snuff the evil from the roots. Any one that isn't one of ours is fair game. If it's red, it's dead."

"Yes my lord." Aqua said playfully.

Sora came up behind her and rubbed her from shoulder to finger tips, and hugged her.

"A lord am I? Does that make you my faithful servant?" he asked hotly, close to her ear.

"Y-yes my Lord. Or...or your concubine if you so desire." she answered him heavily.

"I know what I desire." he said, gifting her neck kisses. Her blue hair brushed against his face and he enjoyed its softness. Sora could feel the goosebumps dancing on her skin. He felt happy that she wanted him. More proof that Kairi was wrong, and that he wasn't bad. He roughly slammed her against a nearby tree and she wrapped her toned legs around him as he pressed against her, kissing her hungrily.

"Please, tell me your desire my Lord." Aqua begged. She was lost in a world of their creation, of passion and understanding. Of compassion and longing. She needed him to want her so badly that it filled his senses.

"I desire-"

Before Sora could finish his sentence he felt his body seize up. He stiffened without his own consent and felt himself flung away from Aqua.

"Sora?" Aqua asked, face flushed and breathing heavy. She dropped from her suspended position and caught herself deftly on her feet.

"Aqua something is happening to me, I can't control my body!" Sora told her alarmed. Just then a shadow came from behind the tree they were on, revealing an elderly woman.

"My my my, to be young and in love. I was young once, but my love was taken from me. Everything was taken from me." she said with a scowl, thrusting her hands down. The motion seemed to be what forced Sora down onto his knees.

"Are you the one doing this? Stop this instant! Ooh and it was getting to the good part..." Aqua whined.

"You fire nation scum don't desire to be happy. I will snuff out the light behind your eyes, and who better to do it than your own lover!" the woman said, making Sora rush towards Aqua.

Aqua side stepped Sora and subdued him, getting him to the ground and locking him in place with ice she drew from the air. The old lady gasped at the sight.

"Wait, you are a water bender? Why are you with this fire nation degenerate! You dishonor our tribes!" the old lady said.

The ice holding down Sora melted and he spun to back hand Aqua. Aqua noticed that Sora was a lot slower than usual, and figured it was because he was being controlled. She had no problem hopping back to avoid the swing, and dodging all of his attacks.

"Clearly you are too skilled to be hit, but what about your sweetie pie?" the old woman cackled.

Sora flew away from Aqua and toward the rag wearing old lady. An ice spike rose from the ground and Sora was slammed into it, impaling him deeply.

Aqua screamed in fear and rage, immediately summoning her modified keyblade. Before the old lady could start monologuing a purple aura surrounded Aqua and she teleported forward, chopping her head off. It rolled off to the side as Aqua melted the ice. She held Sora close and cast the strongest cure spell she could, curagaza, into the water and watched as the wound barely stitched itself together. She was at least relieved that she couldn't see straight through his chest anymore.

"Sora no, what happened? How did she overpower you?" Aqua asked, amazed and horrified that someone could hurt Sora this badly.

"S-she wa-was blood b-bending. I h-had n-no control." he explained.

"Fucking bitch!" Aqua said.

Even as she cursed the dead woman, darkness began to seep out of the dead woman's exposed neck. Aqua noticed the darkness and it began to gather around the corpse, morphing it slowly. She knew exactly where this was going.

"Hea-heartless. Focus Aqua, the d-darkness was s-strong in h-her. St-strong heartless." Sora managed to get out.

"Leave it to me."

Aqua cast a powerful shield with curative properties around Sora and sent him away a good distance.

"You strike at the face of God. He will send his black angel of death to judge you!" Aqua said darkly. She felt the familiar cold touch of darkness as it bubbled up out of her pores. She allowed it to cover her and settle, not fighting it. It faded away and she noticed her clothes looked the same as when she was in the realm of darkness. In fact she looked the same exactly, except for the yellow eyes. Her eyes were now a deep grey-purple combination. She felt powerful, more so than usual. As she settled, she felt a name in the back of her mind, as if the power itself was speaking to her.

"**Vo...Void Form? Is that what this is?" **she spoke in a layer voice. She didn't have anymore time to think as the old lady turned heartless screamed at her.

The heartless was humanoid, and looked like a woman with a long torso and clawed fingers. It had a cloak with the hood down and a flowing skirt that hid it's legs, if it had any. It's face was dried up and cracked with withered grey hair. Over her chest was the heartless symbol, but it shocked Aqua when it actually spoke. It's voice was like sand blowing in a harsh wind.

"I will not be stopped. They took everything from me, and I've been taking from them! I have a cave full of fire nation bastards, all chained up. I wanted them to suffer in bondage as I had, but now I think I'll just kill them all! The world will know the call of the black siren!" the heartless said gleefully.

"**I am not my King, I do not care for your story. You interrupted our intimacy, and you hurt him. I will not free your heart from the darkness, but devour it!"** Aqua said, dashing forward with her keyblade in hand.

The black siren met Aqua with a staff of black ice, clashing with her. Aqua kicked under it's guard and pushed it away. Aqua got in a wide stance and coated the blade on her weapon in ebony flames. She braced her lower body and thrust her naginata forward.

"**Illusion of fire!" ** she called out.

Her naginata thrust out so fast there were after images, and the heartless saw thousands of blades being thrusted at her. The blade pierced her just as many times, each fiery stab cauterizing the wound it made as it entered, only to be ripped open again as the blade was pulled out. The heartless tried to summon black ice to aid her but found the dark flames dried the air around her and anything she managed to get was immediately evaporated. Defeated, the heartless fell to the ground.

"NOOOO! I was supposed to get my revenge!" it cried out. Aqua came to it and swiftly cut it's head off once more, causing the heart of the old woman to be released and the heartless to return to shadow.

"**This time stay dead bitch."** Aqua said. She caught the heart as it floated away, denying it it's return to kingdom hearts or the Final World. "**Oh no, I plan to make good on my threat."** Aqua brought the shining ball of a heart to her mouth. She willed the darkness to cover her teeth, making her mouth full of obsidian fangs. With a grunt she opened her mouth and bit down on the heart, munching away at it until it was gone. Suddenly, Aqua felt her mana and vitality increase dramatically. It was as if the heart had given her a level up of some sort, and she embraced the raw energy flowing through her veins.

Aqua settled it down and locked the new power inside her own heart, and disengaged her Void Form. She went to go collect Sora and see how he was healing up.

* * *

Deep in the space in between, an explosion of godly magnitude rippled out. An entire solar system was wiped out it the explosion, and a single being floated at the center. To anyone who could have looked, it was a woman, and she was very visibly pissed.

"**That fucking bitch! How dare she remove a heart from me! HOW DARE SHE!" **KH bellowed, causing another explosion to occur.

"**Never in the history of me has anyone ever found a way to offend me so greatly as to remove a heart from me and trap it inside themselves. I thought Sora was bad enough, but at least those hearts weren't really a part of him. She fucking removed Hama from the World!"**

KH seemed to pace on nothing before suddenly stopping, having come to a decision.

"**My daughter is dragging her feet, and I don't really want to deal with the other two if I don't have to. So, I guess mama's gonna get her hands a little dirty."** she said with a beautiful grin.

She waved her hand and a cloud appeared. The cloud showed Azula sleeping, as she currently was. KH sent some pure unfiltered darkness to Azula to power her up enough to finish off Sora and his two whores.

"**There. If I do any more than that my dear sweet husband will be livid. The bastard. But it should be enough, and if not there is always option B."**

* * *

Azula woke with a start, feeling something off with herself. She felt her heart pounding strongly in her chest and gripped her left breast roughly.

"W-what is…" she said, but she collapsed on the floor.

* * *

Morning came and the sun shined through the long windows of the fire palace. Yuffie stretched casually as she made her way out of the large bed she was in. Since letting herself be captured, Yuffie has been living the life of proper luxury. She was originally supposed to be a gift to the fire lord from Azula, but Ozai became addicted to the way she fucked his brains out. At first he was surprised, not used to a woman being as bold and able to keep up. But he found he loved having her in his bed, and treated her as an honored concubine.

"Good morning my great ninja" Ozai said, watching her get up and walk toward the closet in the buff.

"No, I told you. You have to say the whole thing, it's one name. Get it right or no morning deep throat for you." she said.

"You dare deny the great phoenix king his wants!" Ozai said playfully, sending a burst of fire toward her. The fire hit her but she burst into smoke, reappearing at another dresser in the room.

"Well we have already established that none of you can catch me, not without great loss to your pride. So yes, I think I will deny you your wants." she said, purposely bending at the waist and making a show of picking up nothing.

It had the intended effect as Ozai leap from his sheets, fully erect, and walked right up to Yuffie impaling her with his 'flaming rod'. Morning sex was now well under way.

After about 2 minutes of effort the fire lord wiped sweat away from his face with a smug grin. Yuffie may or may not have hyped up how good he was at "dicking her down". He went to take a bath but not without giving Yuffie's firm ass a smack.

"Later baby." he said as he walked off.

Now alone, Yuffie flipped the bird to him and put on a red robe. Her long hair was kept soft and clean with the finest conditioners money could buy. Her skin is just as soft and glowing with exfoliation. Her focused black eyes glanced at a nearby mirror and she stared at herself. The only solace from all of this was that she had managed to convince the fire lord to get rid of all the other girls he kidnapped. He was going to give them to his soldiers but she saw to it that the majority of the men had suddenly lost their ability to copulate due to a well placed impotence poison. One of her own personal recipes.

She wondered if Azula's words were true, if she had allies in the spirit world that were willing and able to kill Sora. She had no doubt Sora was strong enough to beat them, but you can't very well hit a spirit. So she went along with it all, for his sake and so she could set things up from the inside. Already she had managed to intercept critical information and killed a dozen messenger birds which she hoped would cripple operations. Without proper orders the soldiers outside the fire nation would hesitate as to not accidentally contradict the fire lords wishes.

Either way this would be over soon, as the day of the invasion was drawing near. The first thing she was going to do is stick a knife or ten inside Azula's throat. She'd let Aang have the firelord, assuming the twerp could cut the mustard.

She just had to survive these next few days. Hours of high living for only a few minutes of rape.

"Not a bad deal, all things considered," she said to her reflection. "It could be so, so much worse."

* * *

The next few days passed quickly for everyone. Yuffie got by and continued her sabotage, loosen the bolts on the ballistas and poisoning ration stock piles. She tried to get out the message that the fire lord would be hiding during the eclipse but as the time drew nearer she could not find a safe time to send it out undetected. Sora made a full recovery thanks to Aqua and his own healing powers, having taken advantage of a lake they found. They also found the cave Hama kept all of her captives in and freed them as well. After that they made their way to the rendezvous point. Aang and the gang kept training and all of the other troops had been making their way to the meet up point as well. Now, they all stood assembled and ready to go beat the fire nation once and for all.

Sora found Sokka pouring over all of his maps and drawn up plans, clearly overthinking things.

"Hey Sokka, it's a little too late to make any changes to the plan don't you think?" Sora said.

"Hey it is never too late for a better plan. I just want to make sure I'm not leading everyone to their deaths, it's kind of a lot of pressure!" Sokka responded.

"Hey it's going to be fine. I already told you, Aqua and I will take point. We will clear the way, I promise. Now, your people need to hear their leader bold and confident. There are a lot of nerves out there." Sora told him.

"Y-you're right. I should go make a speech. This may be the last thing some of them will hear…" Sokka said.

With that, Sokka got up and walked up a hill to address the gathered people. As he looked on, the others started turning to him to give him their attention. He suddenly felt very small.

"HI! Uh, hi. As you all know, today is a big day. Well, obviously you guys know that… wait, I didn't mean like guys there are some women too I just meant um...So there won't be any fire! That's good for us right? Haha…" Sokka said.

"Yikes, Sokka is completely choking out there. Someone go save him please." Toph said with a sigh. "His heart rate is through the roof!"

Hadoka, Katara and Sokka's father, went to Sokka and gently tugged him along off the hilltop. Sokka was so embarrassed and ashamed.

"It's okay son, not everyone is good at public speaking." Hadoka tried to console him.

"But it's not just public speaking! I'm asking those people to lay down their lives and I can't even speak to them properly. I'm a disgrace…" Sokka sullenly said.

Sora looked on and figured Sokka wasn't going to make a come back, so since he was taking point he thought he might as well give the pep talk.

"Hello everyone, my name is Sora. Some of you may not know me, but I am the one who will be taking point during the invasion along with my partner Aqua. Listen to me, I know all of you are ready to lay down your lives today to defeat the fire nation. But that's not good enough! Anyone can die for a cause, but can you live for it? Can you make the morally wrong choices, the soul dirtying decisions that will keep hope alive? I can tell you, I do not plan to take any prisoners today!" Sora said, earning gasps from the crowd.

"Why should I? Why should any of you!? How much does the fire nation have to take from you, how many people need to be killed or hurt before you realize they are a disease that need to be eradicated!? For every decent fire nation citizen there are 100 willing to kill you just because you were born in a different place than them! Well I won't let them take one more thing, one more family member, one more lover, one more friend, one more hard earned possession! We will extinguish the flames of war without mercy, and we will win this day! Are you with me!?" Sora said in a crescendo of vocal passion.

His speech was met with angry and passionate warriors roaring in agreement. Every single one of them was willing to do whatever it took to secure the future.

Sokka looked on in awe and jealousy. Sora had so easily inspired the spirits of their soldiers and it had felt so genuine Sokka felt himself ready to fight harder than ever before. What nobody but Aqua knew was that Sora had laced his voice with a twinge of darkness, stoking the negative feelings in the crowd so they would focus on how the fire nation hurt them. This would make them emotional and passionate, and more than ready to both live and die for today's victory. She smiled in approval, and excitement. She was more than ready to test out her new Void Form. She was sure Sora wouldn't deny her some victory sex to finally finish what he had started days ago.

Sora looked on at everyone ready to fight. He looked over to Aang, who was crying but stern faced. "Aang, we are ready."

"Let's go."

Aang flew over the crowd and shouted it was time to go. Everyone got into submarines that were made just for the invasion. Sora walked over to Aqua and waited till everyone was underwater.

"Are you ready beautiful?" Sora asked.

"Born ready handsome." she replied.

Seeing everyone underwater and on their way, the two of them kissed and ran out to the water, dashing across it towards the fire nation.

* * *

Azula sat imperiously on the fire throne, with Wonder sitting on her lap. Everyone else in the palace including Yuffie had evacuated and was in the bunkers underground. Azula had spent the last few days testing her new power in secret. Wonder had found her during that time and decided she would personally help in the upcoming battle. Azula was damp in anticipation. She would finally beat Sora and sit on his face in victory. She would kill everyone, and be the true herald of the fire nation. She would be denied nothing!

"Darling, the fun is about to begin." Wonder purred from Azula's lap.

Azula smirked and waited for them to come. "This will be my day of glory."

* * *

Author's Note: The Invasion is about to begin. Will it be different this time around? I'm not so sure. either way, let me know what you think with some dope ass reviews. Till next time.


	14. War Is War, Hate Is Hate

Author's Note: This chapter is particularly brutal, but it does put an end to the war. There's a bad enough that i'll go out of my way to put a TW here, but I won't say for what so there's no spoilers. Enjoy, and let me know what you think of the way Sora reacts at the end.

* * *

Aang sat nervously in the bunk room of the submarine. He twiddled his thumbs restlessly as he felt the pressure of the upcoming battle. Everyone had their part in this plan, and his was to beat the fire lord. It was very personal, so he had no issues at this point with taking the fire lord's life. His real concern was if he was even able to. He did not have control of the avatar state, and there was no guarantee he would be able to enter it even with a strong emotional response. He still had not mastered fire bending, and Toph had been distracted learning from Sora to really hunker down and teach him.

But he also knew that this was not the time for second guessing. Today he would either rise, or fall. There would be no in-between. He heard the alarm that signified the submarine was rising, and knew it was time. They had already stopped for air once, so this time they were ready to make landfall. He got up and made his way to the main chamber, staff in hand. They were to wait for Sora's symbol. Sora and Aqua were supposed to clear a path to the palace. He was nervous about the two of them being out there on their own, but everyone was insisting they would be fine. Sora didn't specify what the signal would be, just that they all would know it when they heard it.

* * *

"Alright Aqua, I don't want the enemy to get in any lucky shots. We go in, and we go in hard and fast." Sora said, his face serious with worry.

"As long as you go in hard and fast after we're done." Aqua said with a wink.

Sora blushed. "Whoa. I expect that boldness from Yuffie, not from my sweet Aqua. But, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it." Sora said, getting close to her and kissing her passionately.

The two stepped away from each other and focused as they came upon a large statue with cliffs on either side. Suddenly, a large net rose up and became a barrier to them. They could not pass now, and they knew the submarines would be entangled in it. For dramatic effect the net caught on fire.

"Because of course it's on fire." Sora sighed. "Well, you ready?"

"Yes my lord. Yuffie's waiting." Aqua replied, already tapping into the power she locked away in her heart from Hama.

"Yeah, she is. Let's get what's ours!" Sora cried out.

Sora got a running start on the water and leaped high as he headed for the large net.

"Final!" Sora called out.

Sora was instantly enveloped in light. Just as quickly as it came, it exploded outwards into nothing. Sora emerged from the light in a baggy rope-shirt tied at his waist, with wide legged hakama pants. Both with silver with black accents with his chest exposed and bare. He now had two naginatas floating in an 'X' over his back, one completely black and one completely silver. He began to spin sideways in the air as he came down from the apex of his jump, and slashed at the net diagonally. The cut completely sliced the net, allowing the submarines to pass without issue.

Aqua saw land approaching fast and took it as her queue. She took a mighty dash using the water for a boost. She flew through the beach and was headed straight for the first squad of soldiers. Right before she was about to make contact, she let out a battle cry.

"Vo**id!"** she said, transforming into her Void form.

She spun her blue naginata in a violent swing that cut the four fire nation soldiers in half before they could react. She pulled on the fresh blood as it sprayed in the air and sent bloody lances rushing toward a ballista that sat on the closest flanking wall. The path to the fire nation palace from the beach was a narrow and straight road with raised walls on either side. Aqua knew she had to take care of the rest of the ballistas and catapults that were stationed on those walls so that the main invasion force could make it without issue.

"I'll take the sky, you clear out the path!" Aqua told Sora as she ran up the wall toward the next machine.

Sora hovered over the ground, slowly floating forward as he waited for the soldiers to respond to the attacks. Dozens of soldiers came rushing at him, but for some reason he felt there should be more.

'Wasn't this supposed to be the beehive? Where are all the bees?' he thought to himself.

Sora shrugged his shoulders as he rushed the first group of soldiers, disappearing from their sight. He reappeared over one of the soldiers in mid swing, and brought down his light naginata is a terrible swing. It cut through the soldier from his crown to his groin, and let out an explosion of hot light upon hitting the ground which blew back the others. His modified keyblades forced him to change up his combat style and instead of quick hits followed by a strong finisher he spun and twirled with each naginata tucked under an arm in wide unforgiving slashes. Each slash was followed by an explosion of light or a wave of dark energy that would do even more damage. For a finisher, he spun the two naginatas in his palm and tossed them out from him. They acted as spinning death discs as they mowed down the remaining soldiers present. Any attack was simply parried by his naginatas constant spinning, making him untouchable.

Aqua was running from machine to machine, finding the narrow peep holes and flooding fire into it until the whole thing exploded. The power boost from absorbing Hama's heart made her magic much more potent and combined with her new Void Form she was blowing up the steel contraptions with ease. Soon enough, the entire path was cleared of both human and machine. Sora looked towards the beach and let out a roar infused with aero magic to boom out, giving the invasion force his signal.

* * *

"That's the signal, I'm sure of it. Let's go." Sokka said, giving the green light to march forward.

"Signal? That sounded like a pissed off dragon!" Toph said, unable to stop the goosebumps on her skin from feeling the metal hull of the submarine vibrate violently.

Aang simply drew his eyebrows down in concentration and prepared himself for anything as the submarines made landfall.

* * *

Aang was not expecting the bloodbath that greeted him on the shore. The sand and dirt looked deep red from all of the blood it had absorbed. The body's of the fire nation soldiers were hacked and blown to pieces. Mangles of flesh that used to be recognizable littered the path. Aang couldn't help but finally lose his lunch as the smell fully hit him. The air was saturated with iron. Aang wasn't alone as a few of the less experienced in the invasion force joined him in losing their lunches.

"W-what the hell? They're all dead." Katara said, her eyes tearing up.

"They were the enemy, we should be glad they won't be able to be in our way. We have to move." Sokka said, refocusing the invasion force and getting them to move forward.

They came upon Sora and Aqua finally and Sora waved excitedly at them.

"Hey everyone! See, told you we'd would clear a path for you." he said.

"Yeah, you really REALLY cleaned up shop." Toph said trying to not show how uneasy her stomach was. Despite being there when Sora killed before, this was on a much bigger scale and she was walking through it feeling everything.

"It was too easy though." Aqua said.

"Oh yeah, just gloat on how easy it was to kill dozens of people." Katara said accusingly.

"No no, she means it should not have been this easy. It was like they were a distraction, like they knew we were coming or something. There should have been over one thousand soldiers on a regular day, don't you think? The fire palace is within eyesight, but there were barely over one hundred." Sora said.

"Well even if it was a distraction, they didn't do much to hinder us. You both cleared everything out in minutes, saving us a bunch of time. More time to locate the fire lord." Sokka said, clearly pleased things were going so smoothly.

"Let's go then!" Aang said impatiently, pushing past them.

The invasion force continued on.

* * *

Sora's unease grew as the large group had split up into teams, with Aqua with the main force and him with Aang Sokka and Toph trying to find the fire lord. The palace was completely empty, not even guarded at the front gates. They found what they could only assume was the fire lord's throne room, and Aang drew a large breath before exploding into the room with a tremendous burst of air.

"Fire Lord Ozai, I have come to defeat you!" Aang yelled into the room.

The empty room.

"What? No! Where is he!?" Aang yelled.

"No...they knew we were coming." Sokka said.

"Honestly, it might have just been a process of elimination. If I knew that my nation would be powerless in the middle of a war, I'd make sure we are safe while vulnerable." Sora said.

"Dammit!" Aang said. He was livid at being outsmarted, and losing his chance to get revenge for Appa and the world.

"Aang, we may still have a chance. I doubt he has gone far, there might be a secret bunker or something. Toph, Sora, can you check?" Sokka asked desperately. He refused to believe all this was for nothing.

"Well Big Foot, I think between the two of us we could spit this entire continent in two. Surely a little ol panic bunker would be nothing. Shall we?" Toph said.

"Lets." Sora replied.

They both got into a low stance and took heavy, sure steps. They stomped towards each other, ending with a mighty foot the the ground and punching fist to fist to share and increase their seismic vision. The earth opened up to their minds eye and they saw the entire coast. They focused on the steel box under the palace. It was massive and dense but they saw through it, and memorized the layout. Sora opened his eyes and his teeth grinded together audible.

"Th-that's-that's horrible!" Toph cried out, agast.

"What? Did you find it? What did you see?" Sokka asked, eager to not waste their precious time.

"There is a bunker, we know exactly where everyone is down there. The fire lord, Azula, and Zuko too. A-and Yuffie…" Toph answered, looking sick.

Hearing Zuko's name contorted Aang's race into rage. "Come on already let's go!"

Toph and Sora dug into the ground without further words, and led them all to the large metal door that acted as the entrance. Sora wasted no time in obliterating the door with a punch that blew it right off the hinges. The group was led by Toph towards the fire lords room. They entered and found he was not alone. Zuko was apparently talking to his father at sword point, and turned in surprise when he heard a large explosion from behind him. The explosion came from Sora who blew up the door with a firaza encased fist. He stared death into the fire lord's eyes and was only distracted by a more happy than she should be Yuffie.

"Baby! I knew I felt big dick energy around here, it had to be you!" Yuffie said as she plopped the fire lords dick out of her mouth and got up to walk to Sora.

"And where do you think you're going harlot!" Ozai said as he roughly gripped Yuffie's arm.

"Ah! Sorry I forgot, please don't hurt him!" Yuffie pleaded.

Sora was ready to go supernova, but the concern in Yuffie's voice gave him pause. It didn't give Aang pause though as he immediately rushed in and engaged Zuko who only had two swords to defend against a pissed off avatar.

Zuko felt true fear as he felt the hot energy of his bending leave him. The eclipse had begun.

"Yuffie what do you mean? What's their leverage?" Sora asked.

"Azula said she had some spirit, named Wonder, on their side and that she would kill you if I didn't behave." Yuffie said. She was actually feeling quite shitty. Despite being who she was, the idea of her lover seeing her with another man's cock in her mouth still brought shame to her.

"Wonder? That bitch...she is the reason for all of this! I'll fucking kill her!" Sora said, worked up.

Yuffie noticed Sora's breathing quicken and his hands curling up to half fists so tightly they were going white. Deciding to hell with it all, she quickly pulled a tanto from her cleavage and cut off the hand Ozai was using to hold her in place.

Ozai screamed out in agony and shock as he looked at his new stump. Yuffie flipped him off and jumped over to Sora and hugged him tightly.

"It's okay, I'm here now. Sorry, I didn't mean to ditch the plan and attack the fire lord. I just can't stand when you're upset…" Yuffie said, knowing that her actions could very well be everyone's undoing now.

"No, you're fine. I only wish you cared more about yourself and never went along with the horrors you did. Yuffie I'm so sorry…" Sora said, calming down but crying now.

"Hey baby it's okay. You did exactly as I told you, and I was able to help the invasion from the inside. Mission accomplished, okay?" Yuffie assured him, having to speak up over Ozai's pain screams.

"Okay...okay. Time to finish the mission." Sora said, renewing his nerve.

During their reunion, Toph had secured Ozai is a steel prison from the scraps left over from the door. This way even if he got his fire bending back he would still be captured. Aang was extracting pound for pound revenge from Zuko. Unfortunately for Zuko, Appa weighed a lot more pounds than him. Aang currently had Zuko in a funnel of air that littered his body with small cuts relentlessly. Letting it dissipate Aang saw the mangled and bleeding Zuko fall forward, taking laboured breaths.

"Now this ends." Aang said with finality as he walked forward and reached out his hand. He bended the air in Zuko's lungs, taking his breath away and forcing his lungs to collapse from the differential pressure. Aang grinned cruelly as Zuko gagged and slowly suffocated.

Suddenly, Iroh burst from the wall, electricity crackling around him. He stood there with loose grey pants and his grey prison robe tied at his waist. His chest was no longer flabby and he no longer hunched over with age. His body was chiseled, his chest two mountains of muscle followed by six abs of steel. His arms were massive and well defined. Every inch of him was hard with power and rippling brawn. He noticed Aang standing over Zuko and immediately went to save his nephew. He shot out a powerful lance of dark red fire. So red his fire was that it looked like blood. Crimzon.

Aang saw the incoming attack and raised a wall of earth to defend himself, forcing him to lose focus on finishing off Zuko. The fire punched through the wall but lost enough force that Aang was able to bat it aside with a gust of wind.

"Young avatar, believe it or not I am overjoyed to see that you are alive. But please understand, I cannot let further harm come to my nephew." Iroh said, a mixed sadness in his voice. He understood there was little hope for peace with the avatar at this point, but he still wanted to save his nephew.

"Your nephew killed my brother! He hunted me and my friends down ruthlessly, and tried to kill us more times than I can count! And how do you have your bending?!" Aang said, angry tears filling the corners of his eyes.

"I know, but please understand Zuko was confused, and still is. If we succeed in winning this day, his confusion will end with the downfall of his father." Iroh tried to reason. "And I made a deal with the devil, you could say." he added cryptically.

"And what if he had succeeded in killing me back then, huh? Where would that have left us? Left the world? It seems like he will just be joining the winning side to save himself!" Aang shot back.

.

"I can not speak in what could have been, only in what is. Right now, you have the fire lord captured and immobile, bleeding to death. The fire nation is now in your hands, you need only decide what happens next." Iroh told Aang.

"No! The fire nation needs to pay for all of its crimes! All the pain and destruction it has caused for over one hundred years, must be paid back with the destruction of the fire nation itself!" Aang yelled at Iroh.

"Avatar Aang! You speak of mass genecide! Surely there are innocent people, and those that deserve a fair trial?" Iroh said, alarmed at where the conversation was headed.

Yuffie had to grin as Aang shook his head side to side slowly, as if making a decision.

"The 'innocents' lost that right when they allowed those in power to do what they did. They should have rebelled. They were indifferent,or scared, and that's even worse because they know better. Every avatar has been defined by a single, great feat they performed in their life. This is mine, my decree. This nation will fall...and you, Iroh, will be the sole intended survivor. You will be marked so the people of the world will know not to attack you and your burden, your punishment is to be the last fire nation native alive. This war ends now." Aang said.

In hindsight, Aang knew he probably could have handled everything a lot better. He could have made more of an effort to be compassionate. He could have listened to the pleading of Roku and every other avatar in the back of his mind as he spoke his decree. He could have heeded the spirits that tried to tell him to stop as he pulled forcefully on the world around him. But he did not. He ignored the past avatars telling him not to do it. He ignored the spirits as they begged for him to cease his actions. He ripped the veil between the physical and spiritual world and drank greedily from the power of the void in between the two.

He started with Zuko. He gripped his skull as he became filled with power, entering a corrupted avatar state, and Zuko felt the deepest part of his being begin to burn. Aang turned Zuko's soul to ashes, as Iroh looked on in terror and with such pain it filled all of his mind. Aang dashed forward appearing in front of Iroh as he screamed, and branded his forehead with a burning finger covered in white light. He carved the fire nation symbol on Iroh's forehead, then drew a line that crossed it. Iroh slumped forward in shock and pain, unconscious. Aang left the room then, with the intent of commiting true genocide.

Toph was curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth. Everything had been too much for her. Aang, the battle, the raw power saturating the air, it all overwhelmed her and she could do nothing but cover her head and curl up in a ball on the floor. She felt Aang erasing people throughout the bunker, and she began to become hysterical at the primal emptiness she felt from the eradicated fire nation nobles. Sokka was no better off.

Sora took everything in with a sad sigh. He wished Aang didn't have to do it, but he knew eventually he would leave so Aang had to be the one to lead the future of this world. Yuffie was openly smiling and patted him on the pat.

"Mission accomplished Sora. Great work!" Yuffie said happily. "I'm gonna go sodomize Ozai with this blunt rock I found. Go and comfort our little mud pie and ponytail."

Sora looked over to Toph and saw the state she was in. He knew this would be hard for Toph. He felt the power Aang was using, and compared it to a beefed up Ansem. Aang was tearing apart people's souls, and he was sure Toph couldn't even comprehend the concept of it and it was breaking her mind. He had no words to comfort her with, as there are no words in the face of such power. So he simply walked over to her and picked her up. She latched onto his chest like a child and cried and screamed wildly into his chest. He could see her eyes were wide in terror and her body was as tense as steel under stress. He let her hang onto him and walked to the doorway. Sokka simply got up and followed along.

Yuffie was just finishing up with Ozai, watching him bleed out from his cut wrist and the new rectal bleeding. She noticed Sora getting ready to leave after picking up Toph and figured it was time to go. She had already castrated Ozai and forced him to chew on his own balls, so all that was left was to end him. Yuffie pulled out a small sack filled with gunpowder from her robe pocket and stuffed in Ozai's mouth. She used a flint from her cleavage and struck it hard against the metal around Ozai's neck a few times. The sparks danced and flew about and finally one caught the sack and it caught on fire.

"The sack is layered so there's a small delay between the fire and the gunpowder. This is goodbye. Your dick was small and your stroke game was pitiful. I could have raped myself more efficiently, geez. Anyway, see ya. Be glad the avatar didn't get to you, he would have erased your soul like the rest of your useless race. Bye!" Yuffie said with a pep in her step. Before the bomb went off she looked over her shoulder and gave a final parting word to Ozai.

"Oh, and don't feel too bad. As soon as Sora got involved, you never had a chance anyway." She smiled as the bomb went off, blasting Ozai's head across the room in a small show of gore.

She skipped over to Sora and they made their way out of the bunker and back above ground.

* * *

Sora and Yuffie met back up with the invasion force, with Toph being carried the entire way and Sokka still in a daze. Sora handed Toph off to Sokka who took her away to rest.

"So, how'd it go? We didn't find anyone in the palace." Aqua asked as she went to hug Yuffie. "And welcome back Yuffie."

"Glad to be back, sweetness." Yuffie winked at Aqua while gripping her butt. Aqua let out a cute yelp and pushed her off as Yuffie laughed.

"Well as it turns out there was a huge underground bunker. We found it and tracked down the fire lord and Zuko was there. Some fighting later, and both of them are dead. We have officially won the day." Sora said, but he couldn't bring himself to be happy about it.

The gathered people let out cheers at their victory. Even Katara seemed to let go a breath she had been holding but she stopped and asked about Aang.

"Oh, well, you see...Aang is kind of already on the next step of the plan." Sora said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Next step of the plan? What next step? I thought we were going to regroup and spread the news to rally up the people?" Katara said, confused.

Just then, the group noticed a single person running towards them. They were all put on guard, but relaxed when they noticed the earth kingdom colors on the person. It was a young man. He slowed to a brisk walk as he approached, eventually stopping in front of Sora and bowing down to the ground.

"My Lord! Just as you have demanded we gathered many people during these last few days and attacked the fire nation on this day! We got word of your invasion forces being spotted and I was sent to inform you we are all engaged with the fire nation in open battle! We are sixty-thousand strong!" the man said between panting breaths.

"What? You riled up a revolution to attack on this day? Great job baby!" Yuffie said with a thumbs up to Sora.

"Actually, it was really Aqua's idea, I can't take the credit for this one." Sora said with a grin.

"Oh. Great job baby!" Yuffie said with a thumbs up to Aqua. Aqua chuckled at her antics and played along with a thumbs up of her own.

"But listen, you need to tell your forces to evacuate." Sora said to the messenger.

"My Lord, praise be to your compassion, but even though their fire bending has returned we are fighting strong and taking no prisoners. Our ferocity gives them pause, and we are all ready to die to win the day." the man said.

"I'm not doubting your resolve, but it is unsafe. The avatar is on a warpath and will kill every single fire national he encounters. Your people may not be safe from the collateral damage. You need to leave. It is okay, the day is already won. Expect to hear from us soon." Sora said, giving the man's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"I am unworthy! I will tell the people, by your grace are we saved from death!" the messenger said, immediately dashing off.

Katara did not miss a beat. "Explain. Now. What happened to Aang?"

"Alright alright. Look, he is going to do just what I told that guy. Kill every breathing fire nation person he can find. Just like we talked about. He is going to stomp on the fire so it will never catch again." Sora explained.

Katara gasped in horror. "N-no! That's not Aang, he wouldn't want to do that."

"War makes us do things we said we'd never do, on a scale we thought we never could." Yuffie said with a vacant stare that went right through Katara.

"Katara." Sokka said, walking up to the group after having set Toph down. "There's nothing you can do. Aang isn't going to change his mind this time, even for you. His decision has been made."

Katara just weeped while Sokka hugged her. Sora felt bad for it, but would not get in the way of Aang. Sora knew Aang was a big shot in this world and however he chose to run things was his bed to lay in. Besides, he knew that he had a bigger problem that still has not been resolved.

Turning to Aqua and Yuffie he addressed them. "Ladies, we still haven't found the heart of gold. Also, Wonder is here and she has been helping the bad guys this whole time. She seems to favor Azula, and if Wonder is backing her up she could still be a large threat to everything."

"Wonder is here? We should have just killed her when we got the chance." Aqua said, annoyed that Wonder was pestering them.

"Azula wasn't among those that evacuated, at least not that I could tell. Honestly I'm surprised none of you ran into her at all. It'd be just like her to be waiting for us in some melodramatic fashion. Probably sitting right on the fire lord's throne for added effect." Yuffie told them.

"Oh, I was, you all just took too long." A voice spoke from behind Sora. He was not fast enough to stop whoever it was from grabbing the back of his neck and teleporting away with him.

Aqua and Yuffie stared in disbelief. It took a moment for what just happened to register in their minds. Finally, they both shouted out his name in panic and looked around frantically.

"What's the matter?" Hadoka asked, catching their behaviors.

"He's gone! He was just here but someone took him and he's gone!" Yuffie said manically.

"It was Azula." Toph said, coming up behind them.

"What? How? She couldn't have pulled something like that off." Aqua said to her.

"I felt her for that instant she appeared, her feet were on the ground. I got a clear snapshot of her, so I know it was her. But she felt off. Sora feels heavy, like he weighs more than he should. She kind of felt heavy too. That's all I could gather from that brief moment. I felt Sora disappear so I made my way over here." Toph explained.

"Whatever her plans, they can not be good. But...we have no way to follow them or help. We can only wait." Yuffie said, trying to keep her calm.

"That's not good enough!" Aqua hollered. "There are still things that can hurt him, and if Wonder is against him there's no telling what could happen!"

"I get that but there is literally nothing we can do Aqua!" Yuffie yelled back.

Aqua felt hot tears gather at her eyes and walked away distraught. Yuffie could only hope their victory was not tainted by Sora's loss.

* * *

Sora felt a warmth on the back of his neck before his world spun and he felt the hard floor crash against his face, busting his lips. Knowing he could not afford to be stunned, he quickly flipped and stood on his feet, forcing his eyes to focus in the dark area he found himself in. He was standing in what felt like a concrete ground, but there was a large dome of darkness that covered it. There was no light, and he couldn't even make out his feet. He summoned multiple balls of light and spread them out to take stock of what was around him but it only revealed that he was right. He stood on a large concrete floor. He felt the familiar stiff coldness of darkness and knew that he had to be in the realm of darkness.

"Well well, the mouse gets cornered by the cat. How delicious." Azula said, fading into existence while walking towards Sora.

"Azula! So, come back for more did ya? One beat down wasn't enough? You little masochist." Sora said, trying to hide how badly he wanted to kill her for tricking Yuffie.

"Oh I admit last time we fought you beat me fair and square. But you didn't finish the job, did you? Now I am able to come back, stronger than ever to get my revenge." She said coolly.

"Oh that was my mistake. Good thing Aang won't be making it, I told him better." Sora said with a cruel smirk.

"The avatar? So I guess uncle still failed in the end, ever the failure. Do tell, how is the adorable little air nomad?" Azula said confidently.

Sora slowly and calmly circled around Azula, and answered in a tone devoid of any sort of gravitas. "Great, actually. As we speak he should be in a rage induced avatar state committing the great genocide of the fire nation. Oh and daddy dearest is long gone."

"What! You lie, there is no way that can be true! We had planned for your pathetic invasion, and the avatar should at least be weakened still." Azula said, her hands balled up in anger.

"Unfortunately pudding, Sora does speak the truth." Wonder appeared and said, caressing Azula's face.

"NO...how can this be? The fire nation...lost?" Azula said in shock.

"Not yet darling. Deal with Sora, break him and then return to kill the avatar for good. You will be herald, the god queen who saved the fire nation and finally put an end to the war!" Wonder told her. "With your new power, it should be an easy task" she added, disgust hidden in her tone.

"Then I've no time for pleasantries. I am going to break you, then use you just as my father used your ninja whore. Then I'm going to drag you back to watch as I kill all your friends! Ahahahaha!" Azula declared.

Sora felt his heart twitch at her threat. "Hm, I have a better idea. I never did pay you back for kidnapping Yuffie did I?" Sora said.

Instantly, Sora was in front of Azula with his naginata in mid swing. Before it could render Azula's top from her bottom however, she summoned her own black and gold naginata in a puff of flames to parry and deflect Sora's swing. She sent thrusts to make some distance and jumped back to regroup herself. Sora stood wide-eyed, staring at her.

"I-is that a keyblade? There is no way that is a regular weapon." he said to her.

Wonder made a grunting noise in response before answering. "Yes Sora, Mother dearest thought it would be a good idea to give this child of dust here her own keyblade."

"Give? Who is your mother? You can't just give keyblades, it has to choose you!" Sora argued back.

"Where do you think keyblades come from? Where do you think the light comes from, or the darkness? The source of these things is what you are fighting against." Wonder countered.

"Less talking, more winning!" Azula interrupted, rushing Sora and engaging him in a furious close quarters battle.

Now with her own keyblade, Azula was doing alot better against Sora. Where he had speed she had precision. Where he had power she had flowing movements that parried all. If he tried to throw elements at her, she would break and counter him and every attempt. What Sora didn't know was that Azula had received a boost from Kingdom Hearts herself. The boost didn't give her new powers, but amplified and fine tuned the skills she already had. As a result her movements were faster than reactions and her fire was a deep violet, the hottest there was in any world at over seventy thousand degrees fahrenheit. Each attack she made with it was a conflagration that Sora had to punch through desperately.

Seeing things were going nowhere, Sora decided to step it up with a shout. "Final!"

"Final-ly taking me seriously?! I'll return the favor!" Azula said. She encased herself in her violet flames. When it dissipated it revealed her in armor of fire. Arm guard, breastplate, leggings, and back plating all of compact violet flames hugged her tightly. Her Keyblade now took the shape of two purple kriss bladed daggers, one held in reverse grip with the other one regular. Both with a golden handle with a blade blade that had red fire nation symbols running along it. "Submit to me!" she said with a dash that broke the ground under her.

They were both even quicker now, but Sora found himself on the defensive. His naginatas were suited for wide sweeping attacks, best used against large groups or on opponents some distance away. Azula knew this and kept very close to him, fully utilizing her short range to give him no room to properly attack her now. The most use Sora was getting out of his weapons now were to block with the shafts at incoming attacks that got too close. She was too fast to shake off, and he knew he had to change tactics.

Sora pushed forward, bum rushing Azula who was caught by surprise by his sudden forward motion after continuously back stepping from her. He let his Naginatas stay behind so they didn't follow him as he moved forward. He quickly ducked under Azula's left side as she tried to swing with that arm in retaliation, and caught her outstretched arm. He quickly stepped behind her and locked her left arm against her back in a firm grip as she let out a pained gasp.

"Ugh, you think you can subdue me like this?! You underestimate my training!" Azula ground out, as she focused on the armor on her back and left arm. She willed it to explode outward, catching Sora in the blast and forcing him off of her.

Sora felt the build up of energy and let go just before the blast went off and put up a quick reflect in the split second he had. The blast was far too powerful for a weak reflect like the one he put up and was easily shattered through. It was enough to take the initial heat and brunt of the explosion, and Sora landed harshly on his back a lot less burned than he could have been.

Azula was relentless and gave him no respite. She was on him with both daggers thrusting downwards towards his chest. Sora parried her at the wrists and she was forced to follow through due to her momentum. He instantly reinforced his forehead with the sweat on his brow making a thin but solid layer of ice and headbutted her as she came down. The headbutt stopped her momentum and she used the rebound force to spin off of him in a flourish while collecting her daggers.

Sora slammed his fists on the ground sending rods of earth shooting out of the ground at Azula. She jumped atop the fourth one but quickly flipped off when spikes began to shoot out from it. Sora let the air around him move his body as he flowed his arms with the current, flowing in wide arcing motions before a volatile cyclone sprung forth from his hands, picking up the rock pillars making it a deadly vortex of spinning earth.

Azula quickly tried to slice it in half with an axe kick that sent a large wave of violet fire but it just got sucked in and made the already dangerous thing a funneled volcano of magma. Sora smirked as he tightened the diameter of the cyclone until it was a compact lance of utter destruction and gave it an extra push towards Azula. She cried out in agony as magma slammed into her, melting her skin. Her violet fire was even hotter than the magma, but her revealed skin around the armor she wore caught fire easily. Sora left it for about a second before reaching out to the earth and heat and bended it away from her.

He saw the damage he had done. Her chest and arms were melted down to the muscles in inconsistent spotty patches, the rest burnt to various degrees. She twitched in anguish and Sora assumed the only reason she wasn't dead or dying from shock was because her affinity for fire allowed her to survive the brunt of the heat. Anyone else would have been reduced to sweating bones.

"Well, at least that pretty face of yours was spared." Sora said, smiling in a relaxed manner.

Azula could only look at him with gritted teeth.

"Gives me something to look at while I properly pay you back for what you did to Yuffie." he said, undoing the tied shirt at his waist.

Wonder decided to venture closer since the battle was done, and sate her curiosity over what Sora would do to Azula. "So, you have won. I'm only slightly surprised, but unfortunately this dustling didn't quite have the right darkness in her heart to fully utilize the power given to her. She is too young, and despite her evil deeds there is still a chance to save her heart."

Sora didn't even bother to acknowledge Wonder as he let his shirt drop and moved to slide off his pants. The whole time his eyes bore into Azula's in pure malice.

"Oh...oh! You plan to do that to her? My, that is pretty dark, even for you. Aren't you supposed to be a guardian of light?" Wonder said in surprise, though her giddiness was clear in her voice.

Sora kicked his pants off and stood over Azula fully unclothed, his manhood already stiff and angry. He got on his knees between Azula legs and pulled her towards him positioning himself at her core. He encased his hands in darkness, almost like a glove, and ripped off the fire armor she had from the waist down. It now lay bare before him. He was about to force all of himself into her in one swift motion when he noticed a change in Azula's eyes. Wonder noticed what made him pause and laughed.

"Yeah it's as you guessed, she totally wants this! Look at her, she's drooling in anticipation. She's so ready for you. So, you gonna give her what she wants?" Wonder asked.

Sora thought for a moment. The fire lord had raped Yuffie, and he was hellbent bent on doing the same to Azula. But Azula would enjoy this, he realized.

'Unless…' Sora thought to himself.

Suddenly, Sora grabbed Azula by the hips and roughly tossed her around, face on the floor. Now she was on her stomach. He grabbed her hips again and raised her ass towards him, letting the head of his erection rest on her back door, knocking.

Azula immediately started to struggle against him now, clearly not wanting it this way. She thrashed but was very weak from the near fatal damage she sustained. Sora easily held her in place by the hips alone, unconcerned with the fear he felt rolling off of her in waves. Wonder exploded in laughter now, clearly amused by Sora's actions.

"HaHAha! How's that Azula! All that time imagining it and you left the most vulnerable hole you have unprepared! Trust me, even six inches would hurt like hell. But that thing? It's gonna rip you up and bleed you out. Wow Sora I know you're a killer but a sodomizing rapist?! Who knew you had it in ya!" Wonder said out loud.

Azula began to cry now, just barely making whimpering noises, now shaking in fear rather than to fight back. Wonder's words gave Sora pause.

'W-what...what am I doing?' he thought slowly. 'Am I really about to raped someone?!'

He felt his breath quicken, but it wasn't excitement. His hands curled on Azula's hips, digging painfully into her flesh. She cried out at the pain, the fear having finally gotten to her as her pride was shattered. Wonder looked on at Sora as his features changed, and frowned slightly.

"Azula had Yuffie raped. At first it wasn't just the fire lord you know. They had to sail from the earth kingdom all the way to the fire palace, and Azula made sure her men were satisfied with their spoils of war" Wonder said trying to push Sora past his indecision. She could feel the darkness seizing him up, forcing him to do this heinous deed. She wanted to help it along.

"S-s-sora, p-ple-ease." Azula managed to stammer out between her sobs.

Sora looked down at her, startled she said anything. He looked into her pleading and broken eyes. He knew in his heart that she would no longer be a threat. He had broken her pride, and she was meak and scared without it. He felt his heart get pulled by compassion and was about to relent. As he moved to get up, just at the edge of his vision he noticed a flash of yellow light. Still looking at Azula's face, it morphed into one he cared deeply about. Yuffie's misty eyes stared back into his, pleading for him to end her suffering. In his head he could hear her plainly.

`I suffered for you, and you can't even get revenge for me!?' she accused in his mind, as images of her being violated every which way flooded into it. He shut his eyes in pain as he saw everything they did to her. Everything.

Azula had calmed herself down enough to notice Sora had gotten quiet when suddenly his eyes shot open and with a rageful yell he slammed himself into her without any restraint.

Wonder simply crossed her legs, floating in the air as she watched giggling. "My little Sora takes another step towards the darkness. The true darkness. Soon, Papa." She muttered to herself quietly as Azula's gut wrenching screams echoed out into the black dome.


	15. The Dark avatar

Aqua was having a hard time calming down. Believing she failed to protect Sora brought up all kinds of guilt and shame in her. Luckily, she didn't have to feel that way for long. Within half an hour or so after he was taken, Sora came walking out of a portal in the very same spot. Aqua had been waiting there for him, so she was the first to see him and rushed up to him.

"Sora! You're back! A-are you okay baby?" Aqua said. She then noticed the barely breathing form of Azula he held in his arms bridal style. She saw Azula with flesh burned off, paled faced with blood caked on her lower body and bruises on her face. In fact there were bruises on every visible part of her body that wasn't burnt or obscured by blood.

"Aqua. I'm glad you're okay." Sora replied with a weak smile. He looked blankly down at Azula. Her eyes were half open, but there was no life in them. He had done worse than kill her.

"I am. The rest of the group went to run damage control for Aang and tend to whatever wounded they could find left alive. Yuffie is with them as well." Aqua informed him.

A mirthless laugh calmly fell out of Sora's throat. "There won't be anything left to bury. Yuffie knows this, so she is probably there to keep our own troops safe from any possible friendly fire if they get too close."

"I guess so then. At any rate, this world is free of the war now. We can focus on sealing the keyhole and finding the golden heart." Aqua said.

"I guess there is still work to do." Sora said half-committedly. "And that door to the realm of darkness."

"Sora, what's wrong? Do you feel bad about what we've done?" Aqua asked, trying to ignore the trail of thick white she could now see running down Azula's legs.

"I...I don't feel bad about the killing. Killing is easy now. Once they are dead, they can't feel anything anymore and you can just move on. But I…" Sora said, refocusing his gaze on the silent Azula.

Finally Azula looked at him, not through him. She slowly willed her eyes to focus on his face, and her entire body stiffened painfully in fear. She tried to speak, to say anything. But only dry rasps and noises came out. She tried to ignore the warm liquid she felt in her throat, but she could not lie to herself. Sora had destroyed her throat, and anything that was in it. She couldn't speak.

Aqua looked at Azula and saw the fear and damage. She forced herself to admit to herself what she knew Sora had done. She expected to feel disgust, but to her surprise she simply grinned.

"For Yuffie?" she asked him.

"Yeah. For Yuffie." he answered simply.

"Okay." Aqua said. "Pain comes in all kinds of forms. Anything unpleasant is just another form of pain. You hurt Azula because she hurt Yuffie. Azula should have expected nothing less." she finished.

Sora looked thoughtful for a few moments before nodding his head. "Anyone who hurts either of you will be paid back tenfold. It's the least I can do for failing to protect you."

Azula wondered if they would kill her then. There was no way to play the sympathy card with Sora now that he doesn't feel any guilt for assaulting her. 'All's fair in war I suppose' she thought to herself grimly. Despite her mind being rational, her body still quaked in fear of the pain Sora did and still could inflict on her. The damage was deep and personal. It wasn't as if he simply cut her arm off in battle. He made sure she knew it was personal, and she did, and she feared him.

Wondering what to do with Azula, Sora tossed her roughly on the ground and she let out a painful cry. "Aqua, would you be a dear and take care of this enemy? I think I got my point across."

"I don't mind. I have a special skill I want to try out." Aqua said.

Aqua kicked Azula over so she was on her back. She saw the full extent of the damage and smiled sweetly. She summoned her modified keyblade and held the tip over Azula's heart. The tip of the blade glowed brightly as it dug into Azula's chest. She gasped out in silent horror and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Aqua took her heart from her body, and Azula died on the spot.

"Here Sora, eat this heart." Aqua instructed him.

"What?! Eat her heart? That's...can we do that? I mean she was an evil person but a heart is always pure, it's just a blank canvas we paint on with our own choices and personalities." Sora said, hesitant to actually eat someone's heart. It felt inherently wrong.

"At first I thought the same thing, but when that old water bender hurt you I got so upset I ended up eating her heart. It gave me a huge power boost, and I was able to manifest Void Form from it. It will make you stronger, and with how powerful you already are it might be the only way for you to power up at this point." Aqua explained.

Sora looked at the bright light Aqua held at the tip of her keyblade. 'More power means I can protect my friends better' Sora thought to himself. With a nod, he took the heart from her and bit into it.

"Hm, tastes kind of...lemony? Why is it so chewy?" he asked as he worked on the piece he bit off.

"Right? I coated my teeth with darkness and it helped me get through it pretty easily." Aqua said.

Deciding to try it, Sora willed a thin film of darkness to cover his teeth and found he was biting and chewing it much easier now.

Finishing it, he paused to feel for any changes. Suddenly his stomach and chest exploded in pain, a heat growing inside of him until it was unbearable. Sora let out a violent scream and a torrent of violet flames sprung forth from his mouth. He lurched forward and the purple flames encroached on him spilling out from his mouth until he was completely covered in the flames.

Aqua looked at the scene nervously, wondering if he needed help. 'He's on fire, of course he does' she chided herself.

As she moved to get some water on him he held his burning hand up to stop her. He stood there a few moments longer before the fire started to fade. His skin once cleared of the fire revealed that no damage was done. He now stood in vivid purple armor not unlike Aqua's keyblade armor in style. It was almost neon in color and had black accents outlining every crease and points where plates met. Heat seemed to coat the armor giving it a slight distortion when looked upon. Aqua looked appreciatively at the get up.

"Heart of Flame." Sora spoke confidently. He summoned his keyblade, and it was now back to it's typical form. As soon as he firmed up his grip it flared up in purple flames and transformed.

Sora's keyblade was slightly longer than its base form. It's hilt was an overlapping hexagon of angular shapes with a keychain that was the fire nation symbol. The blade was an extended violet flame in the vague shape of a sword's blade. Despite not having a solid form Sora was sure it could cut through anything. Overall Sora was pleased, and felt his affinity for fire skyrocket.

"Well, that did have a kick to it." Sora chuckled. "Might make a habit of eating the hearts of especially strong opponents."

"That's good. We should probably head back and regroup. The battle is won but there's still work to be done to end it." Aqua said.

"Yeah, then we can finally focus back to the reason we actually came here in the first place!" Sora said excitedly. With that they both walked out towards the screaming in the distance.

* * *

Sora and Aqua walked through the destroyed streets of the fire nation capital. There were no people, just ruined buildings and the occasional fire. Sora marveled at the destruction. In addition to just erasing the people from existence, it was as if he went out of his way to destroy everything he could along the way. Even the most mundane things, like benches in a park or a lamp post, were demolished.

'Aang was serious about wiping them out, even the memory of them as best he can' he thought to himself.

"It's gotten quieter. Aang must be finishing up with this city." Aqua mused out loud.

Suddenly a bright light caught their vision, and they saw it shoot up into the sky. It was Aang. He had indeed finished with the city, from the buildings to the rat in it's sewers. Now he was going to envelop the Fire Nation in a great flood of fire to destroy miles of it at a time. Fueled by a raging Avatar state, he took a deep breath and drew from the sun's energy. He started pouring fire into the palm of his hand and kept it compressed with air. He kept building it up until it weighed too much to hold even with his boosted bending. He took aim to a section of the land a few miles away, and with a primal scream unleashed the built up energy, using air bending to help feed the flames even more.

What followed was one of the most spectacular explosions Sora had ever seen. In an instant, at least from what he could tell, miles of land was enveloped in a fiery hell storm of pressure and heat. The earth shook in protest but the Avatar did not care. He did not wait for his attack to subside before flying through the air and unleashing more of the same attack as he went. In short order he was too far for Sora to see, leaving only fire in his wake.

"That...was shockingly brutal." Aqua said, a bit put off by the power Aang had displayed.

"Well, that's genocide for ya. At least he has the sense of mind to not hit friendlys." Sora said casually.

* * *

They continued their walk until they finally came upon their group down the road. Katara was weeping on her knees with Sokka holding her in consolation. Toph sat on a stone seat with her scarred face pale white and shaking. The rest of the invasion forces were not there.

"Sora!" Yuffie said as she leapt from a nearby rock, wrapping her legs around Sora's face.

"Where is everyone?" Aqua asked, completely ignoring the urge to do that to Sora herself.

"Oh, once we caught up with the Avatar and everyone realized there was no stopping him, most went back to the fleet to head home and plan for what's next. Some dumb brave few thought they could try to stop Aang, something about genocide being wrong or whatever, but quickly found that a pissed Avatar is an impatient Avatar!" Yuffie said petting Sora and he calmly enjoyed the scent she was gifting him with. "You can add them to the body count."

"They should have known better." Sora said, however muffled.

"My father should have known better?!" Katara suddenly yelled at Sora.

"Oh…" Sora said, still muffled.

"You bastards! You all did this! You corrupted Aang! You made him kill, and you are the reason my father is dead now too!" Katara said.

"I understand Katara, believe me I do. I lost dad too. But he shouldn't have tried to attack Aang to stop him, what did we expect?" Sokka said softly to her, crying quietly himself.

"Get off me! You're just like them! You all are!" Katara said as she became hysterical and her mind broke at the perceived betrayal of her brother.

Without realizing it, Katara bloodbended Sokka off of her, throwing him to the ground roughly. Everyone was quiet as they waited to see what Sokka would do. Then Toph screamed.

"SOKKA! Sokka no! Katara what the fuck did you do!?" She hollered, thrusting a stone pillar up from the ground and into Katara sending her a few feet away.

"Geez this has turned into a shit show…" Sora said to himself, but Aqua heard it.

"What can you expect? They are just kids. They should have never been put in these situations." Aqua said, sadness coating her voice.

"I was a kid too ya know." Sora said back to her, though there was no annoyance. Just resignation.

"You don't count." Aqua giggled.

Katara was able to shake the dizziness away after a minute and got up to see Toph cradling Sokka's body as it lay motionless.

"You too Toph?! What was that for!?" Katara said, ready to fight Toph seriously.

"I felt what you did Katara. His heart...you made it explode." Toph replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

A cold sensation gripped Katara as she heard Toph's words. In that moment of blind hysteria, Katara had bloodbend Sokka. But she was very inexperienced, and there wasn't a full moon out so she had no control over it. She remembered now how she forced the blood in Sokka to squeeze in order to make the muscles contract. She remembered one particular muscle she squeezed too hard. She remembered feeling it pop.

There was no reconciliation for Katara. She had unwittingly killed her brother, her own family. Sora saw the panic in her eyes as it set in, and her breathing as she began to hyperventilate. She took off like a bullet in a random direction. She was out of sight in seconds.

Toph still held Sokka's dead body, and Sora still heard the explosions off in the distance from Aang. Sighing, he took Yuffie off of his head and held her. He kissed her tenderly in the way only a lover can. She blushed into the kiss and returned it. Aqua helped Toph get up and slung Sokka's corpse over her shoulder. They all began to make their way back to the shore.

* * *

A few weeks had passed before Aang made his way back to Ba Sing Se. Sora and the group had returned there shortly after Katara ran off, foregoing looking for her. In that time they held a proper funeral for Sokka and organized the people to help return proper infrastructure. Well, Yuffie did. She was the most experienced in these sorts of things. Aqua tagged along to support her efforts.

Aang walked into the room where Sora and Toph were currently lounging. Upon 'seeing' Aang, Toph shot up and rushed to hug him.

"Aang! You're back! Toph said, happy to see him after so long.

"Yeah, I'm back Toph." Aang replied tiredly.

"So...does that mean…" Toph began, eyes flicking to the floor.

"Yeah. The fire nation will barely be a footnote in history now. All but Iroh have been cleansed." Aang answered her unspoken question.

"Oh. Yeah...Well, since you've been gone, we have really managed to turn this place around. Everything's on the up and up, especially reconstruction efforts. A whole city filled with earth benders made it a cinch. Yuffie Aqua and some of the others are travelling now, helping set up order." Toph finished.

"Yeah. That's good." Aang said. The whole time he and Toph were talking he was staring at Sora, who was consciously avoiding his gaze.

"Sora." Aang said.

"Hey Aang. How goes restoring balance and all that good stuff?" Sora said, still not looking at him.

"We need to talk." Aang said, ignoring Sora's inquiry.

"No, I don't think we actually do." Sora said.

"Outside. Now." Aang said, turning around and walking outside.

Sighing, Sora got up and made after him.

"Sora, what's going on? Is everything okay?" Toph asked concerned.

"I don't know. But Aang is giving off a very confrontational vibe. I think it's best if you stayed inside mudpie." Sora said, ruffling her hair as he walked past her and through the door.

"No no, I can't lose anyone else." Toph said to no one. She promptly followed Sora outside.

* * *

KH was currently beside herself with fury. So much so, that she ignored her better judgment and went to the world Sora was at. She hovered over the atmosphere and pondered how to rip the stolen hearts from him and Aqua. She focused her gaze into the world and found Sora standing in front of Aang, the avatar of this particular world. She smirked as she imposed her will onto Aang. Aang was swirling with darkness. Having recently received so many hearts from this world she knew exactly why.

In worlds like this one she set up the Reincarnation Protocol. That was so the hearts could keep being recycled, without having to come to her. But Aang destroyed their souls, so the anchor that held their hearts was no more which drew the hearts back into her. She could feel the anguish and regret in Aang for the mass genocide he had commited. It was the perfect garden for darkness to bloom. She looked as Toph Beifong walked up behind her. She noticed a dull golden light inside of her.

"**Meh, probably nothing."**

* * *

Aang stood with his back to Sora. Sora stood tense, ready for anything. Toph was switching her visionless gaze between them nervously.

"Sora." Aang began. " As the avatar, it is my sworn duty to maintain balance in this world. You are a foreigner, a non-native of these lands, aren't you?"

"I am." Sora replied.

"What did you come here for then?" Aang asked, turning slightly to face him.

"I am a keyblade master. Much like you, it's my duty to keep balance. Particularly between light and darkness. I came here because there was a door to the darkness here. I came to shut it. As well as find a tool that would help me fight the darkness better. A heart made of pure gold." Sora explained.

"You speak of balance, but I know all about you." Aang said now facing him fully.

"Somehow, I sincerely doubt that." Sora said back.

"I've had a vision about you. In my vision, you flood this world in darkness. It destroys everything and everyone." Aang said, his fists balling up tightly.

"Well get your spiritual eyes checked, I know what is at the end of that road and it's not a destination I want to arrive at." Sora said bitterly, remembering his illusion of killing Kairi. His mood was quickly souring. "Get to the point."

"Fine. That vision is all I have thought about these past few weeks. What good would cleansing the world of the fire nation be when a threat like you is around." Aang said.

"What are you saying, Aang?" Sora spat with a scowl.

"You must be eliminated." The moment Aang finished his sentence he dashed forward in a blur, spinning into an axe kick covered in bright orange-yellow flames.

Sora batted the foot away only for Aang to jerk up in a twist and throw a fist blast of air that blew Sora back a bit.

"No! Please don't do this!" Toph cried out, distraught that she was about to lose someone else.

Aang landed lightly on his feet and immediately accessed the avatar state, greatly increasing his power. He felt as Sora touched the ground after an air recovery, and bent the earth to shoot up under his foot. Sora quickly evaded it but found that where he tried to set his feet down spikes of earth instantly shoot up trying to impale them. He kept dancing around to evade the spikes and pushed his will into the earth to try to overpower Aang's bending. To his surprise, he didn't even feel the earth respond.

Aang spoke in the ominous layered voice of the avatar state. "I am the avatar, the representation of the physical and spiritual realm. You are an outsider, this world will not respond to you over me. I am the will of this world!"

Sora had to throw up a reflect spell to stop a multitude of earthen spears from shooting right through him. Aang sent scores of them and Sora poured more energy into the barrier. Eventually the barrier cracked, then broke with an explosion that shot outward. Aang was unfazed and gathered lightning in his hand. He then reached out to the moisture in the air and used it as a conduit for the lightning, making it even faster than before as it flashed into Sora. He tried to twist away from it but the air was saturated with electric charge now and it simply followed and crashed into him.

Sora spun out when hit and crashed into the floor wheezing. "Wow, I'm so used to darkness blasts that I forget regular attacks actually do a lot of damage."

Aang stalked over to him and stood above him as he twitched. Aang grabbed Sora's temples with both hands and lifted him up to eye level. "I will now erase you from the great consciousness." Toph looked on in horror as Aang began to focus.

"Geez Sora, stop fucking with him already. It's gonna cost you. You aren't the only one with a stake in this fight." Wonder said while appearing next to Toph.

"Quiet spirit!" Aang commanded. Because he turned to look at Wonder, he didn't see Sora's eyes flash brightly. Aang was suddenly hit with a purple explosion that blasted him away from Sora. He landed painfully a few feet away.

Sora now stood in his recently acquired form, Heart of Flame. It disturbed him somewhat as he could feel Azula fighting and throwing all manner of curses at him, but he knew it was a moot point for her. She was a part of him now. He stood in his armor and pointed his sword towards Aang.

"I was going to let you off easy for attacking me. But you really are set on killing me. I'm sorry, but I can't die. Too many people are depending on me. Please, just stand down." Sora said, hoping Aang would stop once he realized he was outclassed.

"NO! You have to be destroyed! Balance must be maintained!" Aang said.

Sora sighed and almost looked like he was about to cry. "Another good soul, lost to the darkness. Come Aang, I'll set you free from your pain."

Aang charged him, a drill of air earth and fire swirling madly on his outstretched right arm. Sora readied his flaming sword, and used Zantetsuken to finish Aang in one clean cut. Aang felt weak all of a sudden. He still stood in his attack position but found his body too heavy for his legs. Just as he was about to collapse his world turned black.

* * *

KH sat casually in Aang's dive to heart. She looks at the multicolored glass with depictions of previous avatars with Aang in the middle in a meditative position. She was waiting for the moment Sora defeated Aang, because she knew he would. She was going to link this world's door to the realm of darkness to Aang's heart just as he started to die. In those moments before death the heart is at its most malleable and accepting, desperate to cling to anything to stay alive. Honestly she's never done this before and was interested on what would happen by putting a Door inside someone's heart. She was sure it would be spectacular.

She felt the glass shake and saw cracks begin to form. She smirked. "**Show time."**

* * *

As Aang was falling, he felt something stir deep within him. Then, there was darkness.

Sora braced himself as a tidal wave of weightless darkness washed over him and the entire city. Toph felt icy cold cover her in the darkness and curled up into a ball. The walls of the city acted like a bowl, covered by the darkness and containing it. Aang caught himself and stood up straight. His skin was black though his tattoos still glowed the ethereal light of the avatar state. On his chest was the telltale hallowed cavity of a pureblood heartless. From the hole cracks of different colors branched out. Reds and blues and browns and grays. The elements. Aang stood for a moment, examining himself. Then he looked to Sora. Sora met his gaze, and noticed something particular about the hole in his chest. It seemed to call out to him, to his keyblade. Maybe he could…

Sora was brought out of his musings by a rush of black flames that came towards him. He spun around it and quickly brought his flaming sword up to guard. Aang moved so fast it was as if he teleported right in front of Sora. Aang kicked Sora deep in his stomach, and landed a stone-fist uppercut meeting where his jaw would be. Aang shot out the rocks that lined his fist in one smooth motion in a seamless transition and they hit Sora like bullets as he recovered in the air. Sora's armor turned the rocks into ash, but he still felt the impact of them.

Sora rushed Aang with a flurry of attacks that were easily evaded. Aang's airbending training was on full display now as he weaved and snaked himself along Sora, landing element enhanced attacks whenever possible. Sora picked up his tempo and went for more powerful attacks seeing he needed to step it up. He had Aang back peddling with a supercharged Ragnarok, and followed up with a shocklock. His new form sent 25 spears of violet flames to Aang at breakneck speeds. Aang was just too damn good at dodging however, and evaded them all. Showing off, he went out of his way to dodge the last spear by letting it pass through the hole in his chest.

"Really?" Sora said in annoyance. Aang just seemed to smirk in response.

Sora figured Aang was just too fast to hit, so he needed area attacks. His light abilities were the best for that sort of thing, plus it'll weaken his darkness. Reaching into his heart to pull out the light Sora called out to it and...nothing happened. Alarmed, Sora reached out to it again, calling louder but nothing responded. Sora was so preoccupied with his crisis he didn't notice Aang encasing himself in dark flames and rushing him.

Aang's fist crunched against Sora's sternum, and he followed it up with multiple left and right hooks that staggered Sora back. Sora finally got his bearings and parried a haymaker, snaking his hand through it and around Aang's arm. He turned with a twist and brought Aang to his knees. Aang willed spikes of darkness to shoot up and impale Sora, but they all burnt away as they made contact with Sora's armor. Sora used his body weight and leverage to break Aang's arm in three places while dislocating it from the shoulder.

Aang let out a howl of pain but was forced into silence when sora rammed his sword into his mouth and out the back of his throat. Sora yanked it out and Aang fell forward. The darkness that shrouded the city began to recede back into Aang.

"That...worked?" Sora spoke aloud. He was surprised he was able to put Aang down with such a direct approach. "I guess being stabbed in the head would kill anyone."

As the darkness came into Aang it was drawn into the hole in his chest. After a minute of compacting itself, it exploded upward and the darkness faded to reveal a ten foot opulent door that was already cracked open. Sora could clearly see the dark sides and shadows that formed mountains of darkness on the other side.

"The door to darkness! It was inside Aang?" Sora wondered to himself. "Well, no time to waste either way."

Sora deactivated Heart of Flame and brought his naginata keyblade to bear. He shut the door and sealed it away with the power of the keyblade, and it vanished into nothingness. There was no darkness around now. Toph got up and shakily made her way over to Sora, tightly gripping his robes.

"H-he's dead, isn't he?" she asked.

"Yeah sweety, he's dead." he replied softly. Toph just sighed sadly against him and cried.

* * *

"**What the hell does it take to kill this guy?!" **KH said to no one in particular as she floated invisible above the city.. Though someone did respond.

"**Well mother looks like there's nothing for it, he's just too damn good." ** Wonder said.

"**YOU!" **KH said, instantly latching her blue grip tightly on Wonder's throat.

"**ME!" **Wonder said, completely unbothered. It wasn't as if she had to breathe or anything and the pain was something she was used to.

"**Actually...you didn't do anything annoying this time. Must be a force of habit."**KH said as she let Wonder go.

"**Yeah, being a bitch is just in your nature. That and being a slut!" **Wonder said joyously. This earned her the choke again.

"**Ah there it is. Anyway, my sweet lovely mistake of a child. Why do I see you here, instead of with Kairi like I told you?" **KH demanded.

"**Honestly? This seemed more fun. I even got to see you in action! It's not often you get involved like you did. Perhaps you're pissed you're down two hearts?"**

"**Shut your whore mouth! How dare those children of dust trap my hearts! If it wasn't for your father, I would have ripped them out of them immediately!" **

"**Aw afraid daddy dearest will spank you for being bad? I thought you liked being spanked!" **

KH grew furious at her daughters disrespect and snapped her neck. She dropped her on a non existent floor at her feet. Wonder twitched as her neck fixed itself again and after a few moments she stood back up.

"**That fucking hurts!"** she yelled at her mother.

"**Not enough, you're still yelling"** KH replied. KH took a moment and just stared at Wonder.

"**What? Do I have some cum on my face? Wanna lick it off?"** Wonder sneered at her.

KH simply sighed. "**You're going to do whatever you please, aren't you?" **she asked.

"**Obviously. That is what I am" **Wonder stated proudly.

"**Fine then. I give up. Do what you want. I'll get your older sister to help me. Don't worry about it anymore." **KH said, turning away from Wonder.

"**Wait, that's it? That can't be it. We're not finished. I'm not finished!" ** Wonder started, but KH just slapped her sending her across a couple galaxies.

"**I guess I should have expected nothing less from her. Little bitch. Her father was always the most troublesome as well. Well, they closed this world's door to darkness and sealed it's keyhole. I've been playing with my food for long enough. Time to eat it."**

KH waved her hand and reality shifted around her. It settled and she was floating in front of the four doors she had opened. She looked at the first one in disgust, then to the second with indifference. She turned to the third and smiled sweetly.

"**Jisma, child of being. Come, your mother needs you."**

The door she was looking at burst with energy before a tall tan skinned woman jumped out of it. She was just over six feet, with short black hair. Her hair was in short curls and spikes that settled as they reached their end at her mid-neck. She stood in black chest wraps and short black tights. Her body was toned and cut, every muscle under her skin was forged in titanium and looked as such. She was lithe and tight with almost no body fat anywhere. Her lips were full and pink, and her eyes were hazel and focused. Her eyes burned into her mother.

"What." Jisma said curtly. It held too much malice to be taken as a question.

"**Glad to see you too dear. Mommy needs you to collect her Power of Waking from a child of dust."** KH told her.

"Again?" Jisma asked, surprised that it happened again. Or maybe that her mother had expected anything different.

"**Yes. Will you help me?"** KH asked sweetly. Like the blood of a diabetic on halloween.

"You know I do not have a choice!" Jisma yelled at her, the force behind it blowing KH's hair as if a strong wind had hit her.

"**Oh I know you don't, it's just fun reminding you."**

Jisma wordlessly faded into nothing, off to fulfill her mother's wishes. KH chuckled in amusement at the current situation.

"**As if I'd ever free your father no matter what you did."**

* * *

Days passed and everyone that had left the city made it back. Yuffie and Aqua hugged Sora the moment they saw him. Everything had gone smoothly. Anything that didn't go smoothly, became smooth in short order thanks to Yuffie and Aqua. But then people started asking about Aang. the locals were not too pleased at what Sora had answered them with.

Hodaka was the one to speak for everyone. "You killed the Avatar?!"

"Like I said, he attacked me first! He wanted my life! Also, I thought you were dead!" Sora defended.

"I get that but with as powerful as you are you couldn't subdue him or something?!" he shot back.

"Aang was strong! He had given in to the darkness and was in the avatar state the whole time. And again, why aren't you dead!?" he spat back.

"Still, he was the avatar. What are we supposed to do now...he was supposed to lead us. And the Avatar did not kill me, I was just knocked out. I was found by some townsfolk and managed to regroup with everyone on the road."

"I'm sorry, but I have too much to live for to die for anyone. By the end of the war Aang was changed. Whoever you thought was going to lead you, he wasn't him. You will have to find your own path now." Sora told him.

"How do we guide ourselves?"

"The main reason the avatar is so important is because he is supposed to keep balance. But he only needs to do that because you are all lazy!" Sora accused the group.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" someone yelled.

"The nations are divided because they want to be. Instead of learning about each other and accepting your differences, you are all stubborn and justify separation. If everyone was a little more accepting, there wouldn't be a need for the avatar to begin with." Sora explained.

The group fell quiet in reflection. At this time Toph walked up to him, and looked up to him. "Will you help us?" she asked.

"I...we can't. We have a bigger mission that is nowhere near close to being finished. I also have some personal issues that need to be handled…" Sora said, trailing off.

"Then, can I come with you? I promise I won't be deadweight, I'm a great fighter!" Toph said, trying not to come off as begging.

"But Toph, this is your world." Yuffie said. Sora and Aqua immediately glared at her.

"My world? Of course this is my world, I live on it. So do you. Weirdo." Toph said. She noticed the increased heart rates of Sora and Aqua and narrowed her eyes. "We will talk later." she said as she left the group.

"Anywayyy, yeah Aang is dead. Find your own way. You get it right? Good. Sora Vanish!" Sora mumbled out and vanished in a puff of smoke.

The group looked bewildered then looked to Yuffie and Aqua.

"He just stuck us with the leg work again didn't he?" Yuffie said dismayed.

"Yup." Aqua said, a slight tic mark on her forehead.

"Alright. Here we go." Yuffie said with a sigh, walking up to the group of people.

Sora was so going to get it later.


	16. The Cycle Goes Round And Round

Sora was walking down the street of the busy city when he was suddenly pulled into an alley he was passing and strung up along the wall with metal chains.

"Kinky. Though you may need some stronger chains. And maybe a few more years to be my taste." Sora said, grinning toward a dark corner.

Toph stepped out of the shadow and held a stern expression on her face. "First of all, gross. Secondly, ew. Third, explain what you meant earlier. The way you two were looking at Yuffie as if she had said something she shouldn't have. What are you hiding? And don't bother lying. I can tell when you are."

"Toph, I'm not supposed to say. Isn't it enough to just live your life here with the people you love?" Sora said.

"NO! Every one of my friends is dead. Katara is on the run and I'm not sure I want to even see her anymore after what she did. I just have too many bad memories of my family. Of this entire place. Isn't there somewhere, anywhere else I could go? Please, tell me if there is." Toph said passionately, tearing up.

Sora weighed his options. On one hand he really shouldn't just go around telling people about the World at large. On the other hand, Toph was a very capable fighter. She was sure to be a huge help especially as her powers grew. Sora could see she really did not want to stay here, and with the war now over there was no real need for her type of power anymore. 'Fuck it.'

"Okay Toph. I will tell you the truth, but you can't tell anyone. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Alright. So, each star in the sky is a world…"

Sora explained the World to Toph. How the planets were endless, how some had special properties to them, and his adventures throughout them. From stopping Ansem to stopping Xemnes and finally Xehanort. Toph simply listened in amazement.

"Wow...There are so many things out there. I wish I could see. I bet it's all so terrifyingly beautiful." Toph marvelled. Then something hit her memory. "Wait, you said something about a heart of pure gold, right?"

"Why are you saying that as if you know something about it? You're getting me excited." Sora said in subdued hope.

"Well keep it in your pants. My family has a heirloom, it is said to be a 'heart of pure gold'. It might be worth checking it out to see if that's what you're looking for." Toph said.

"Hell yeah it's worth checking out! Lead the way!" Sora said, breaking out of the chains that held him up and following Toph as she started the short journey.

* * *

Iroh wandered the deserts of the fire nation. He had given up weeks ago and found that Aang held true to his promise. Aang had killed everyone from the fire nation except for him. He had run out of tears, and the mark on his forehead only recently stopped burning. So he aimlessly wandered. Knowing no one would welcome him\ he hunted what he could for sustenance, though this was purely out of habit. He did not see the point in going on since there was nothing left. Still, his survival instinct was strong. In the back of his mind he knew that if he could find a White Lotus that he would be safe, and maybe even be able to rebuild. All he knew was if he did not sire a child Fire would be snuffed out of the world for good.

He sighed heavily to himself. 'Maybe that is for the best. We have done nothing but cause pain.'

Having the fight finally leave him, Iroh dropped to his knees and slouched over himself in true defeat. He reflected on his life, and the loss of his son and nephew. He allowed regret to fill him as he cycled through every person he had killed in the name of honor and conquest. He let shame wash over him as he remembered how poorly he treated his wife. He knew he did an about face when he saved the last two dragons, and that he devoted his life to balance after that. But the blood on his hands would never truly wash off.

"You may hope to change the past, but you can not control when your past actions will come to haunt you." he said to himself, as the desert sun beat on his bare back. With his last amount of energy, he sang.

"_Leaves from the line,_

_Falling so slow,_

_Like tiny fragile shells,_

_Lapping in the foam,_

_Little soldier boy,_

_Comes marching home,_

_Brave soldier boy, _

_Come marching home._

_These leaves did fall,_

_Cutting through the breeze,_

_Rotting deathly on the ground,_

_Spreading foul disease,_

_Everything that grew from it's compost,_

_Grew sick and weak,_

_But eventually those leaves did die,_

_And long lived the tree"_

Iroh finished his song, and fell on his face into the burning sand. He believed grief was its own weight, and his would drown him.

* * *

Sora joined Toph as they broke into her mansion together. They easily avoided every guard and Sora wondered if they were any good at all. He did take his time admiring the grandiose of the mansion. The white marble walls and pillars and golden trimming and rich paintings and carpets all wowed him. Eventually they reached a large steel vault, and Toph opened it with ease, manipulating the gears with her metal bending and unbolting the locks. They entered and saw treasures and trinkets of unquantifiable value. Gold, statues made of metal and gems, opulence Sora had never seen in all his travels. Toph could tell what the things were made of with her seismic sight and was impressed. She examined the large vault room and pointed out something that felt much lighter than everything else in the room.

"Hey, over there. There's something different." she called out to Sora.

Sora followed her directions and came upon a closed box. It was made of pure jade crystal and had golden trim. He picked it up from it's simple stand and opened it. Immediately a small ball of light dashed out of it and headed for Toph, ramming into her right where her heart would be. Poor Toph didn't notice and fell over with a manly grunt as it impacted her chest. She noticed it didn't really hurt, but she could still feel a pressure on her chest. She looked towards Sora and took his offered hand.

"Toph are you okay?" he asked as he pulled her up. "This light came from the box and went right to you."

"I'm fine, it doesn't hurt. Just feels funny." she replied.

"That would be because your lock just found it's key."

Sora and Toph jumped at the new voice, and Sora tensed recognizing it instantly.

"Wonder! Back for more?" Sora said, readying his keyblade.

"Now darling I thought we were past all of that nonsense." Wonder said sweetly, resting her petite form on a priceless scarlet vase.

"You beefed up Azula and have tried to kill us multiple times, that isn't nonsense!" Sora shot back.

"I was just bored! Really, you would think trying to kill you has ever stopped you from being friends with someone." she said annoyed.

That brought Sora up short, as he couldn't deny he has become friends with people that have tried to kill him in the past. What the fuck was wrong with him?

"Anyway, I am here to tell you that you have won! Ding ding ding!" Wonder rocked excitedly.

"Meaning?" Sora asked.

"You've closed the door to darkness in this world, and you have found the first piece of the puzzle. A heart made of pure gold!" Wonder said, pointing to Toph.

Toph had remained quiet, feeling Sora's tension. She spoke up when singled out. "Me? How? My heart pumps blood just like everyone else's."

"It's not literally gold my little nugget, it refers to the quality of light in your heart. Do you think it was by chance those badger moles taught you how to bend the earth bend?" Wonder asked her.

"Wait, how do you know about that?" Toph asked back.

"Let's just say being me has its perks. Nevertheless, you were blessed with a random mutation in this cycle of reincarnation. You took a special quality from her by chance when she introduced your heart into the Cycle, and it is a key piece to beating her once and for all." Wonder explained.

"Who? Kingdom Hearts?" Toph asked.

Wonder looked slightly put off that she knew that much, but a grin from Sora explained it. "Yes, her. The one who stood at creation and didn't blink."

"Well, how do we use it if it's in Toph's heart?" Sora asked.

"The same way you always do things. Go into her heart and shake it until something knocks loose." Wonder said jovially.

"Hey! No one is shaking my heart! Have some finesse." Toph told her.

"I'm joking dirt nips, haha. Besides, Sora doesn't have the skill to dive into your heart." Wonder said.

"While I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I have to say I have nothing but experience when it comes to people's heart." Sora said.

"Yes, but you always use the connections you have with those people. You can bond and show them your heart. But, you've never dealt with true individuality. You have never encountered a heart so resolute in it's own space of being that it completely rejects connections with others. And that is exactly who Kingdom Hearts is. She saw the bonding of eternity and time and rejected it. She scoffed at the dependence life had with death. And she ignored the desire for connection inherent in everything with a consciousness. A piece of that being's heart resides in Toph" Wonder explained, becoming genuinely passionate about her description.

"I don't get what most of that means, but you sound like you admire her. You've given us information that could bring harm to her, so I'm confused. Do you like her or not?" Toph asked.

"I hate her. She takes what she wants and tramples on the naturally given free will of others. But she inspires endless wonder, and I am forever enthralled by her. She is infinity, in its purest form." Wonder answered.

"So how the hell are we supposed to even touch her? She sounds like a god with a capital 'G'." Toph asked, concerned.

"You can not kill or erase her, you can only make her submit to your will. Make what you want what she wants. To do this you need to convince her. The first piece is the heart of pure gold. It is the embodiment of Value. It is the only thing worth having. To get it, you must develop your skill in diving into a truly independent heart." Wonder said.

"I don't know how. I usually just go with what my heart says and things work out." Sora said.

"I wouldn't exactly call your current situation having 'worked out'. You're down a princess and down on light." Wonder said coldly.

Sora looked down and his thoughts briefly went to Kairi before refocusing. "Will you help me?"

"Oh? You ask for my assistance now? The proud King to be?" Wonder smirked.

"I owe getting this far to you anyway. I know that if you don't help me, I won't have any leads. Please." Sora begged.

"Hmm. Fine. I will at least point you in the right direction. There is a world, far from here of course, that has recently undergone a dramatic and unique transformation. The people of that world have decided to give up their individuality and bond in the primordial husk of creation, Guf. There are two people that are close to regaining their individuality, and by the time you get there it probably would have already happened. The only way to return from Guf is to have a superior sense of self. If you are able to dive into one of these two people's hearts, preferably both really, you will gain the experience you need to dive into Toph and penetrate the heart of gold within her." Wonder conceded.

"Awesome! I owe you so much!" Sora said, happy to be one more step closer to making the World safe for everyone. He would prove Kairi wrong by saving the world, not infecting it with darkness.

"Yes. Yes you do." Wonder said.

She snapped her fingers and the world shifted around her and Sora.

* * *

They found themselves on a beach of white sand, surrounded by endless pearl-clear waters. Sora realized he was laying on the warm sand, the sun lazily above them in a clear sky. It was beautiful, even more beautiful than his island.

'Some trees would be nice though.' he thought and as if in response some palm trees sprouted fully grown from the ground a bit behind him.

"Surprised?" Wonder said as she walked up to him.

"Well, I figure this is just another one of your illusions. So not really." Sora said, sitting up and looking at her. When he did, he gasped.

Wonder casually walked up to him and stood, in all her glory. She was different. She was taller, about five foot eight inches. Her skin was a light tan and her eyes were a deep ocean blue. Her hair was long, down to her waist and fiery red in color. It's own weight straightened out the curls so there was a slight waviness to it. Her bust was no more than a C-cup and her waist was tight. Her hips were curvy and toned legs supported the picture of perfection that she was. Trimmed red pubes taunted Sora.

"So, I'll ask again. Surprised?" Wonder asked with a knowing smile.

"What, who...why do you look like that?" Sora asked, struggling against the urging of his heart. 'She looks like-'

"This isn't just a mere illusion, though I'm sure I'll stuff you in plenty of those as time goes on. I pulled you into my heart. I was wondering about what your perfect woman would look like, so I allowed your imagination to shape my form. This is what I got. A bit too red for my taste." She said, sitting on him and straddling him.

"Oh. I guess you do look like her…" Sora said, an aching in his heart now.

"You mean Kairi?" Sora twitched at her name. "It's okay, I know that she is special to you. You must have thought she was pretty hot for your subconscious to make me look like her. I guess just the longer hair was missing? Maybe I'm an older version of her." Wonder thought out loud.

Sora sighed as he hugged her, selfishly pretending he was holding his old love. "So, why are we here? You said I owed you a lot. Are you collecting?" Sora said with a breast covered mouth.

Wonder cooed as Sora held her, returning his embrace with one of her own. "I am. But I want something that will feel good for both of us."

"What, sex?" Sora said, not against that idea at all.

"I am not crass like my mother. I want more than just that. I want you to treat me as you would treat Kairi, if it was her in your lap instead of me right now." Wonder said.

Sora tensed, and thought about her request. "What I feel for Kairi is more than just love. There are ugly emotions as well now."

"Give it to me. I want all of it." Wonder said, dripping with excitement at Sora's words.

"I...I might hurt you, if you really want a real reaction." Sora said, his voice toneless.

"I am much more durable than her, I will not break easily. So? Will you give me your heart for her? Remember all the good times. All the bad times. How she hurt you. Let it fester and lather yourself with it. Then, right when it's ready to explode, unleash it on me unfiltered." Wonder told him.

Sora sat unmoving for a few minutes as he debated going through with it. He didn't want to think about Kairi, but he really needed to keep Wonder happy. Besides, he could use a good release.

Wonder let out a yelp as Sora pushed forward, throwing her back on the sand and pinning her by the throat with his right hand. He gripped her throat tightly enough that she felt her air instantly cut off. With his free hand, he grabbed her right shoulder and popped it out of place. She cried out in pain, and he stood up in front of her at full mask.

"Work it with your hand." he ordered.

When she got on her knees and tried to grip it with her left hand, he kicked her in the chest sending her into the sand painfully.

"No. Your right hand."

She tried to lift her arm but her shoulder sent sharp pain into her. She couldn't physically raise her arm due to the injury.

Sighing in frustration, Sora slapped her causing her lip to bust. He then reached for her hand and grabbed it, forcing it up to grab his waiting manhood. She grit her teeth and shuddered in pain at the forced motion.

"There. Stroke."

She pushed past the pain and tried to stroke. She found she couldn't move her arm at all and was only able to maintain her grip. She rocked her body back and forth slowly, causing her hand to move as well. This achieved the stroking motion she wanted, but also caused a hell of pain as her popped shoulder moved grotesquely under her skin. Sora grinned darkly as his cock pulsed happily in her hand.

After a few moments, he stepped forward breaking her grip and swung his cock with his hips hard slapping her in the face with it and causing a bruise to form on her. When she let out a cry of pain he wasted no time and trusted forward into her mouth, ignoring the teeth that grated against his shaft. He slightly squatted and gripped her hair painfully with his right hand while gripping her dislocated shoulder with his left and proceeded to destroy her throat.

After a few minutes of that he pulled out and a plop of blood followed and dripped down her lips and chin. He spit on her face and pressed her into the sand with his foot on her face. He pressed until he heard her nose snap and felt the crunching of fragmented bones under his heel. Smiling, he got down and hunched over her, gently kissing her and massaging her breasts and ribs.

"I love you so much." he told her.

A flash of darkness crossed his eyes, and his right hand that was resting on Wonder's ribs dug into them. Using his fingertips he pressed onto the floating ribs there and snapped them, causing her to squirm under him and cry out again. He caught her open mouth with his own and forced his tongue in it, brushing it against every corner of her mouth.

Wonder lay twitching from the pain, and Sora was completely excited now. He summoned his keyblade and changed it's form into a long chain of light. He quickly turned her on her stomach and tied her up starting from the neck. He looped it tightly and brought her hands together, bounding them as well. This way if she struggled, the chain would tighten itself and force the arms up more towards the neck. With her shoulder dislocated Sora was sure this was beyond painful. He forced thick sharp spikes to protrude all along the chain, just long enough to prick the skin and rake it if she struggled.

He wasted no time and slammed his full erection into her moist womanhood. It was rough and it was loveless but it was exactly what Wonder wanted.

They went on for hours, and Sora made sure every hole was overflowing with his hateful seed.

Wonder had become numb from pain and blood loss half way through, and made it her focus to just survive the onslaught. Finally, Sora was satisfied. He gave one final body rocking slap on her damaged ass and stood up and stomped on Wonder's neck instantly snapping it. The sun still hung lazily above them, but the sand around Wonder was marked with random streaks of red and off white liquid.

Wonder took a few minutes to regain her bearings, and let her body heal itself. She had blocked her healing to properly experience what Kairi would have, and she knew without a doubt Kairi would have died. Many times over. Regaining enough strength to stand, she did so and walked up to Sora throwing her still dislocated arm around his waist. He flinched at the contact.

"SO. That was, um, wow. That was wow." she said, meaning it.

"I'm sorry…" Sora said, clearly conflicted.

"No honey please, don't be. You gave me exactly what I asked for. I loved every moment of it. But I'll tell you what that would have definitely killed Kairi. I restricted my healing but I'm still durable as hell and I still felt most of that!" Wonder said.

"I didn't think I felt that negatively about her. As soon as I let myself believe you were her I just felt so angry, so betrayed. Everything I did was for her and she just threw me away the second it got difficult. I can't believe her!" Sora said.

"Well, the light has a way of making small issues bigger than they really are." Wonder said.

"But she wasn't just light anymore she gave into the darkness, I saved her with love! She should know darkness is no different than light. I'm still me." he replied.

"Well, it doesn't help that you gave up your light for her-" suddenly, Wonder's words were cut off by an otherworldly pressure gripping her throat. Really, it was painfully gripping her heart. 'What the hell?!'

"Wonder? Are you okay?" Sora asked, noticing her scratching at her throat.

Just as soon as it came, it vanished. 'Okay, so no telling Sora why his moral compass had taken the ultimate nose dive. Fine, bitch.'

"I'm fine, just some cum that went down the wrong pipe. Anyway, we should wrap this up. It's only been a few seconds in the real world. I'm satisfied for now, and I'll leave you alone while you're in this next world. It gives me the creeps anyway. But I'm sure I will get bored, so don't think I won't try to kill you again. If you can't beat me when I come at you, you have no hope of subduing Kingdom Hearts. I do it cause I love you, hehe." Wonder said as she leaned in and kissed him.

As they kissed, she pulled them out of her heart and back into the real world. But before they were completely out, she sent a vision to Sora of Kairi, straddled on Riku's lap and the both of them kissing passionately.

* * *

Sora returned to his body furious and it showed on his face. Wonder had left before he came to, knowing she rightly pissed him off.

"Sora? What happened? You just stood there looking like a dumb rock for a few seconds there." Toph said.

Sora composed himself by stuffing his rage into the pit of repression growing in his heart. "I'm fine, sorry. Wonder just wanted to have a...private talk."

"Ooookay. Well, I got the heart of gold in me. So, we are set to go right?" Toph said, excited at the new adventure before them.

"Yeah I guess so. Let's go get Yuffie and Aqua and we can head out." Sora answered easily.

* * *

"And just how are we supposed to go anywhere with our ship destroyed?" Aqua asked.

Sora and Toph had rounded up the two women and were staying at a house that was given to them. Lounging about the living room, Aqua brought up that very important question.

"Stop that!" Toph yelled at Yuffie, who had been poking her chest constantly,

"Sorry sorry. I just think it's weird the heart of gold is in your heart." Yuffie said sheepishly.

"Well I don't get it either but it doesn't mean you get to cop free feels." Toph told her.

"Not like there's anything to feel." Yuffie mumbled.

"What!" Toph said, throwing little beads of metal at her.

Yuffie darted around avoiding them and Toph and her began a house wide chase.

Sora rolled his eyes at their nonsense. "Well, at least they are getting along."

"Sora, ship, destroyed." Aqua reminded him.

"Oh yeah. What do you mean? We can just make a corridor to get to Radiant Garden and go from there." Sora said to her.

"The distance is too great, there's no way we could accurately make a portal there." Aqua responded.

"Correction, there's no way _you_ could accurately make a portal there." Sora said with a grin.

Aqua rolled her eyes spectacularly as Sora made a show of opening a portal.

"Ta-da!" Sora gleefully said.

His eyes shot open as Yuffie dashed past him and into the portal trying to escape Toph's feminine fury.

"Give me back my bra dammit!" Toph shouted as she followed where Yuffie went, unknowingly sprinting into the portal since she couldn't see it through the earth.

"Well. There's that." Aqua said, stepping into the portal herself.

Sora now stood alone. He took a moment to reflect on everything that happened in this world. He pulled at his heart, and summoned Azula's heart into the palm of his hand. She fizzled into view in front of him, though she was see-through like a ghost.

"Azula." he said to her.

"What? How am I here? I thought you killed me." she said surprised.

"Aqua's method of eating the heart was crude. She simply tore it apart and absorbed the released light or darkness. I instead absorbed the entire heart, allowing you to survive as part of me." he explained. "I have a great deal more experience with hearts than she does."

"What makes you think I'd want to spend the rest of your life tethered to you like this?!" Azula said furiously.

"You gave up your freedom when you messed with one of my friends. But hey, you'll get to see a bunch of neat stuff." Sora said easily.

"Why did you even bring me out? Just to rub it in?" Azula said, defeated.

"Nah, I don't rub salt into wounds. I just wanted you to get some fresh air before I stuff you for a while." he answered her.

"Why?" she asked, confused.

"Just cause." he shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever." she said, at a loss of what to say.

"That's the spirit!" Sora happily chirped, as he absorbed her back into himself.

"Welp, on to the next one." he said as he walked into the portal, closing it behind him.

* * *

Author's Note

And we are done with Avatar's world. For now. The next world has already been chosen, if you caught it you get a virtual cookie. It'll be hard to write, but I'll do my best to put my own spin on things to keep it from having dry spots. Someone has already given a suggestion for DXD Highschool as the world after this one! If you folks like that idea, let me know or give another suggestion. After I get a few I'll make a poll, and you guys can properly vote on which one you'd like to see after the next. See ya!


	17. The Mother Of Lilin

Sora was secretly nervous his portal would miss its mark, but was pleased when he saw Leon talking to Yuffie on the other side.

'Got it in one.' he thought with a smirk. He looked around to see what everyone was doing.

He was in Merlin's house just as he planned. Yuffie was talking excitedly with Leon, recounting their most recent journey. Toph was being introduced to Cid and Aerith by Aqua. They seemed receptive enough of her, for which Sora was glad. He felt the pull of the new heading Wonder gave him for his next destination, and felt it was something he had to do alone. He waited until everyone settled down and as they did they started to pay more attention to him as he just stood there.

"Sora." Leon addressed him. "While you did complete the mission, the amount of collateral damage is catastrophic. You likely changed that world forever, and not for the better."

"Hey, things just kept happening. We barely had any time to just take a step back and plan." Sora defended, though not really too concerned. He sealed the Door and found the heart. As far as he was concerned all's well that ends well.

"I suppose, we could have been a bit more tactful…" Aqua said, thinking about everything in hindsight.

"Bah, Leon is just being a stiff. He knows how war is." Yuffie said, waving her hand dismissively.

"Still, Sora and Aqua are keyblade masters. They should be better than us…" Leon said, gaining a vacant stare that went off through the walls of the house.

"Hey, hey! No time for fond memories Squall." Yuffie said, lightly slapping him.

Leon snapped out of his daze and blinked hard a few times. "Right, thank you Kisaragi."

Yuffie rolled her eyes at the old surname, and bounced happily over to Sora. "So sexy, where to next? Any leads?"

"I know where we have to go next, but I can't bring any of you along." he said, already seeing the protest from Aqua and pout from Yuffie.

"What? That's too dangerous!" Aqua said.

"No fair! I wanna come with!" That was Yuffie.

"I'd love the company, trust me, but I need to learn how to dive into a closed off heart. This next world should show me how, but I have to go alone. It has to be just me." Sora explained to them.

"Wait, if we aren't coming along, what will we be doing?" Toph asked, joining the conversation.

Cid chose this moment to chime in himself. "Well it's been about two months since you all left, and now you're plus one. Why don't you stick around and help out with the town while Sora is away? Some heartless have started popping up again, and I'm sure Merlin would love to have a conversation with the little missy right here." He pointed to Toph.

"Heartless? Well, guess I can hold the home front. Maybe see how Ven is doing." Aqua said.

"Who is Merlin?" Toph asked.

"Merlin is a powerful wizard. He could probably show you how to improve your bending even further." Sora said. "Although...I guess it wouldn't really be bending anymore, huh? Maybe you will have to start from scratch as you learn to use mana."

"Start from scratch?! Hell no, don't tell me that!" Toph said, bending a nearby metal cup much to her relief. "Phew."

"Are you sure Sora?" Yuffie said, looking into his eyes with worried ones of her own.

"It's gonna be okay lovely." he said, hugging her.

Yuffie sighed into the hug. "Fine. You can go. But don't take too long, okay?"

"I'll be back before you know it!" he assured her.

Aqua walked up to the both of them and joined in the hug. "Please be careful. Even with all our power there are still forces out there that are unknown. Come back to us in one piece, Sora." she said to him.

"I love you both so much." he said, holding them tighter.

The rest of the room stood in silent awkwardness, waiting for the intimate moment they weren't invited to to pass.

Finally they broke apart, and Leon spoke up. "How soon are you leaving? We could use some of your data to beef up our security system."

In response, Sora summoned his trusty Kingdom Key and opened a portal with it. "Right now."

"Whoa so soon? Not even a quickie to celebrate our recent victory?" Yuffie said, sounding pathetic.

"Sorry hun, but the quicker we finish this quest, the quicker I can rest easy knowing some crazy universe lady isn't trying to kill me and everyone I love." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and jumped through the portal, towards his next step in the journey.

* * *

As soon as Sora stepped out of the portal his senses were assaulted with the smell of iron and red. He found himself on a beach full of white sand and metal debris that looked like support beams for buildings. A sea in front of him and was red as blood and off in the distance a big white mound of something lay. The sky had an arc of red streaking across it, and it was if the earth itself was completely silent. Then he heard soft sniffing.

Sora looked behind him and found two people. One was a young woman, probably only 14, in a red skin tight suit. She had bandages all about her and her long orange-red hair stood out against her pale skin. The other was a young boy, probably about the same age as the girl. He wore a plain looking school uniform, black pants and a dirty and wrinkled white button up shirt. It was the boy who was sniffing. Sora saw the boy move, and now the boy was straddling the girl. Sora thought that was weird, but was caught off guard when the boy started strangling the girl. Violently, he might add. The boy's face was contorted in rage, as if the girl had done some ultimate sin against him. The girl barely reacted. Sora was about to intervene when he saw the girl reach up and touch the boy's face.

Slowly the boy stopped, his eyes went wide with what Sora figured was surprise. The boy watched the girls hand drop, and let go completely of her neck, instead crying into her chest bitterly. Sora saw the girl look down slightly, and barely made the three words she said over the boy's crying.

"I feel sick."

Sora knew there was a lot to unpack here, and had no clue where to begin. So he did what just comes naturally.

"Uh, h-hey guys. I'm Sora." he called out to the pair.

The boy's head whipped up and to the side to look at Sora, panic clear on his face. He spent only a second more looking at Sora before fumbling off of the girl and bolting off towards the ruins of a city.

The girl's reaction was more subdued. She simply turned her head to look at him and stared at him. And she didn't stop staring. Sora had no clue what to do. But, seeing the blood beginning to seep through the bandages, he walked up to her and kneeled next to her. He summoned his keyblade and cast a few cure spells over her wounds. He was thankful his magic seemed to work normally in this world. She noticed the green light and opened her mouth to speak.

"H-ho-how di-did you d-do tha-that?" she croaked out.

Realizing her voice was parched, Sora summoned a small blob of water and guided it into her mouth. She downed it greedily, coughing afterwards.

"Just some magic spells. Pretty basic stuff." he finally replied.

"Magic? Well, w-with everything that's happened I wouldn't be surprised…" she said, trailing off.

Sora looked at her as she just lay there, looking through him unfocused. "Um, well like I said, I'm Sora. What's your name?" he tried.

"I...I am Asuka. Asuka Langley Sohryu. The only one…" she answered, but trailed off again.

"Right...well if you're Asuka, then who was that boy that just ran off?" Sora asked, hoping to keep her talking.

Asuka's face darkened and she scowled so fiercely her teeth were visible. "Shinji...that bastard...trying to kill me...left me all alone…"

Sora took in everything she said, trying to piece things together. Unfortunately for him, he would never be able to know the whole story as things were, so he could only work on assumptions. "Hey, I saw Shinji choking you. Was he trying to kill you?"

Asuka jolted at Sora's voice, as if she forgot he was there. She settled quickly and scowled again. "Of course he was. It wouldn't be the first time either. That bastard!"

"Well hey, you stick with me and I'll keep you safe!" Sora said, hoping to build trust with Asuka.

Laughter wasn't the response he was expecting, but it was what he got. "A-as if you could save me from anything! HAhaha!"

"Hey, I'm pretty strong ya know!" Sora said, trying to play on her good spirits even at his own expense.

Her laughter quickly died and rage fueled her features. She sat up and yelled at him. "What are you, stupid!? I don't need your help, or that idiot Shinji's help! I am not weak!"

Sora was taken back by her ferocity, but kept his cool. "Hey whoa nobody said you were weak! I only want to help."

"Well I don't need your help! Why don't you go help the invincible Shinji! The savior of this world! The new god of the human race!" Asuka hollered at him. She tried to get up but her muscles failed her and she barely pushed herself to the side.

"Hey, it's okay. Let me help you." Sora tried.

She simply shot him a murderous look that promised pain if he so much as touched her.

'Yikes, I guess this is what a closed off heart is like huh' Sora thought to himself.

He watched for a few minutes as she struggled fruitlessly to get up, her wounds bleeding freely through her wrappings due to the agitation now. She began crying with her jaw so tight he swore he could hear the enamel grinding to dust. After what felt like ages, she finally managed to prop herself up on one knee. She smiled triumphantly and Sora had to be impressed with the pure grit and determination this girl possessed. She moved to get up and immediately fell as hard as one could against the sand under her.

She yelped out in pain and after a few moments lost her mind. She began screaming and hollering and Sora was alarmed at the amount of blood she was losing.

"No! Don't eat me! Stop! I don't want to Die with you mama! Stop! I'm not useless! I don't need you! I am strong!"

Sora looked on uncomfortably as Asuka broke down. Against his better judgment, he cast a strong cure spell to help her not bleed to death. As soon as the spell took effect, Asuka froze. She slowly turned her head to him.

"You bastard! I said I don't want your help!" she yelled at him. With a perfectly healed body, she found tackling him very easy. She went to pummel his face in but he managed to slap away or dodge each swing.

"Hey! I was only trying to help you! Why are you so upset?" Sora yelled over her growling and screaming.

"I'll kill you!" she screamed at him.

"What is your problem!?" Sora said, taken aback by her unprovoked violence.

"I'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'killyouI'llkillyouI'killyouI'killyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'killyou-"

Asuka was interrupted when Shinji ran up with a metal pipe and slammed it against her head, knocking her off of Sora. Shinji went to follow up with more hits but Asuka grabbed the weapon while also clutching the side of her head. She swung wide decking Shinji is the jaw, making him release his grasp on the pipe which allowed Asuka to assume control of it. She swung but she was still sluggish, so Shinji managed to dodge the swings. She threw the pipe at him and it hit his shoulder, earning a cry of pain that made her grin.

"Came to finish the job third child!?" she said.

"It's because of people like you that living hurts so much! Selfish, cruel, people who want everyone to hurt just like them!" Shinji shot back at her.

"Fuck you! You don't know anything about me!" she yelled back to him.

"I know everything about you! You'd rather die and let me die than help or be helped!" Shinji screamed at her. He went to kick her chest and she fell to the ground.

'Fuck I keep forgetting how strong he is when he's upset' she thought in panic as shinji threw himself on her, choking her once again. 'Not this time!' she told herself, forcing her hands up to Shinji's throat and choking him right back.

Sora just watched the two in awe, amazed at the depths of personal hatred they have for one another. Then he realized he was supposed to be getting through to them, and went to shove Shinji off of Asuka. He was stopped by Asuka who kicked his hand away, and he stared at her in surprise. Did she want to fight with him? Was this their twisted version of affection or something?

Eventually, and somehow, they both managed to choke each other out at the same time. Shinji fell on top of Asuka and Asuka went limp. They both just lay there, almost looking peaceful. Sora shook his head wondering how the hell was he going to get anywhere with these kids.

"You won't." came a voice behind Sora.

Sora turned around, keyblade already drawn, and faced the owner of the voice. It was a pale naked woman, her skin glowing white with blue hair and blood red eyes.

"What? Who are you? Were you just in my head?" Sora asked.

"I am Lilith, the mother of the children of dust in this world." Lilith answered him.

"Lilith? So, wait, you know about the other worlds?" Sora asked, trying to get a feel for her.

"I know of the worlds I know of, and can only assume there are many more. But I do know of you." she said.

"What do you know about me?" he asked, guarded.

"You are a keyblade master. Warriors of light who travel the cosmos, maintaining balance wherever you can. And unless I heard you incorrectly, your name is Sora." Lilith said.

"Well I'm not technically a master but I'll take it...So, what happened here?" he asked.

"That...is a long story." Lilith said, looking down in shame.

"I don't think the kids will be waking up anytime soon, so please, I need to know." Sora said.

Lilith sighed. "Okay. Kingdom Hearts is the Great Mother of creation. Due to just how vast creation is, she was able to devote entire solar systems to projects she was interested in. This particular space, she devoted to the Seed of life, which would be held by Adam, and the Seed of wisdom, which is held by me. The seeds would land on different planets, and grow into trees. From those trees, life would be born. Each tree would sprout different forms of life depending on where they were planted. Adam went on to plant many seeds, 17 to be precise. I only planted one seed, here on Earth. The tree that grew here created the human race. I tended to my children, and wanted them to learn to love and understand one another. Where Adam went for quantity, I went for quality." Lilith explained.

"Well, the world doesn't really reflect a species devoted to love and understanding. The world looks torn in half, and the smell of blood is on everything. What happened?" Sora asked.

Lilith continued. "Oh, my poor doves. They grew, and prospered. But they grew apart from one another. They put up barriers in their hearts, and separated from one another. They became individual souls and took full advantage of the wisdom inherent in each of them. They developed A.T. fields, a physical barrier that would keep them from truly becoming one. But they prospered, and made the Earth their own. The further they became from my original intention, the weaker I became until I was just a useless husk of my former self. Eventually, it grew to the point that Adam went to intervene on my behalf, but he was too weak to really do anything so the humans with their science trapped him and kept him for their own purposes. This is when the true trouble began."

"So wait, why did Adam bother to come help you? Are you two friends or something?" Sora asked.

"Our relationship is rather...unorthodox. We constantly bicker over who had the better method of creating life, but we wouldn't let any harm come to one another. His children hated me fiercely though. They see me as a threat to their father, and in a way I suppose I am." Lilith answered.

"Huh. So a love hate relationship…" Sora mumbled, looking over to Shinji and Asuka who were still sound asleep.

Lilith went on. "Well that hatred for me transferred over to my own children. Once Adam was captured, his children came for him. One after another they came for him. They wanted more though. They had their father's pride, and wanted to prove they were the best life forms even over their brothers and sisters. They came for me to destroy me, and merge with their father. You see, Adams children were of the tree of life. Instead of creating barriers between themselves, they embraced one another. Billions of souls merged into one, forming one being. Humans called these beings Angels, after the messengers of god that would come from the sky. 17 trees of life meant 17 Angels, and they were powerful. Each one had a heart stone, or core, that held all the souls that merged. If that were destroyed, then the Angel would simply dissolve into the primal liquid of life, effectively killing it."

"So, the human's lost? Is that why the world got destroyed?" Sora asked, completely enthralled by the information.

Lilith continued to answer him. "No, the humans won. See, the Angels came one after another. But humans were brilliant. They fashioned giant machines after Adam that were powerful enough to fight the Angels. Unfortunately the machine could not reach the level of a soul and the power it holds, so they had to trap female human souls in them as those are what take after me the most. Then they used the children of these mothers as pilots for the great machines, for the most part. It was sad, but effective and my children are nothing if not practical. So, they defeated every Angel, and all was well. For all of ten minutes. The humans who knew about Adam and I as well as the power we held together, wanted to use us to merge everyone in the planet into one being. They wanted to make one supreme being above all others, not an Angel but a God. But, not everyone was on board with this plan. So they had civil war, though it was terribly one sided."

"Wait wait, so they beat all the Angle's, then go and kill each other!?" Sora said surprised.

"Yes. Such is their nature. For you see there was one Angel left, the 18th Angel. The human race. Themselves." Lilitih said woefully. "But humans are stubborn and willful creatures. Their science truly knows no bounds. The creator of one of those giant robots put her own soul into it, to ensure that a piece of humanity will always stand. She would be a testament to eternity that states 'we were here'. But the pilot of her machine, poor Shinji, was unstable. The enemy broke him, and he became the vessel for the new God. But those in power miscalculated. See they created a clone of me, using that smart scientists DNA and mixing it with some of my own. This form you see before is that being, Rei. They wanted to keep me controlled in a human form they could sedate and manipulate. It was hell for me, but I found solace in Shinji's kind and innocent heart. I took a liking to him as did Rei, and instead of being used by the people who created me I took Adam from them, and gave myself over to Shinji. He alone became the God of this new world, and he alone would determine the route humanity would take."

"He had all the power, so why did he make it out like this?" Sora asked, gesturing to the surrounding area.

"Alas, he was still a broken child. I made my children with the intention to never impede on their free will. I believe life can only flourish when left to its own devices. So for better or worse I chose him. We were all bonded for a time, Adam's influence was too strong to overcome outright. But I found that some people actually preferred it this way. There was no pain, no misunderstandings. Everyone was laid bare and we knew and felt everything about each other. There were some with strong personalities however, some that were so closed off that they retained their individuality. But of them only two were so strong as to escape that heart stone. Asuka, who was so averse to someone knowing her inner workings that she chose loneliness over connection. Shinji was at the center of it all. He saw everyone and learned the why and how of them. He found a different truth, that maybe letting others in wouldn't be so bad, but that it only has meaning if it is actually another being. Not a soup of souls. So he left the heart stone as well. But…" Lillith trailed off.

"But?" Sora encouraged her.

"But you saw what happened. The moment they saw each other, the hatred came flooding back and they tried to kill each other! Oh…" Lilith said, tearing up.

Sora saw the distress on her face and went to hug her. She felt like air against his body, and he found himself quite liking the warmth she had coming off of her. She let him hug her and returned it after a moment.

"Is there anything I can do? It sounds like there is so much pain and darkness. It's my job to set that right, and I have a special interest in those two." Sora said into her ear.

She let the goosebumps roll over her body at the sensation of his breath. "What's done is done, and there is nothing left for those two except hate. Their poor undeveloped minds are stumped now and won't be able to go any further. There is only one possible way you could set things right."

"Let's do it then." Sora said with no hesitation, giving her her old sunshine smile.

"I can send you back in time, a few months before this all began, just before Shinji begins his battles with the Angel. If you can get him to open up and accept kindness, and somehow save him from the foul plans laid out for him, I believe he will make the right choice when he ascends to divinity." she told him.

"Wouldn't it be better to just avoid the whole god thing altogether?" Sora asked, confused.

"No. It is bound to happen, I cannot send you back far enough to stop those gears from turning. We can only try to steer which way it goes. You have to try to not change too many things, nor reveal that you know too much. Your enemies are all geniuses and vastly resourceful. Sometimes, you may have to let something play out. All you can do is run damage control and hope for the best. This solar system is closed off from the World, and we have our own time here so you won't be able to leave once I send you back, but only a few days will have passed in your regular time out there. Are you willing to set right this wrong, keyblade master Sora?" Lilith said.

"Well, the road ends here anyway if I don't succeed. So, I'm ready." Sora said.

"Thank you, this means so much to me. You have gained yourself a powerful ally this day. Now I will send you back. Best of luck." she told him, giving him a chaste kiss as she touched his heart and willed him back in time.

'Heh, not everyday I get to kiss a literal goddess' were Sora's final thoughts as he felt his consciousness leave him.

* * *

Author's note: Quick transition into the next world, I know. But this is my favorite world. It'll be one of the hardest to write because it's so damn serious but I'll manage. This one Sora is going Solo. Some screen time for the rest of the gang next chapter, then we dive right into the madness. See ya then.


	18. Sound Body

Aqua was making her way through Twilight Town, hoping to run into Ventus. She took her time, enjoying the dull warmth and light bustle of the town. She happened by a tournament of sorts that was happening, and read a nearby sign that read "Struggle! Free Admission!". She noticed a large crowd and made her way through the cheering coming upon a raised square stage, with two occupants who were fighting. They had red and blue orbs attached to their body, and everytime one of them got hit they dropped their respective orbs. Aqua decided to stay for a bit and watched the fight play out. There was a white teen with dirty blonde hair cropped short who wore a brown vest with a green undershirt and black pants. His black sneakers danced around his opponent. His opponent was a she, and she had long blue hair with a white frilly dress against dark brown skin. She had black heels and all together looked out of place on the stage.

The boy rushed the girl, but before making contact she stepped to the side and with a winding swing knocked him clear out of the ring. A hard smile with sharp canines filled her mouth and she let out a condescending laugh.

"You totally fell for it! You must have gotten so hard thinking about how vulnerable I looked! Haaaaaaa!" she taunted. The boy was out of bounds, so he lost the match by disqualification ring-out.

The crowd cheered even harder and Aqua struggled to hear the man who walked up with a microphone.

"And that does it for the semi-finals! Raika makes another last minute miracle and moves on to the finals to face Seifer for the championship!" he yelled into the mic.

Even though Raika won, Aqua noticed the crowd gave her a wide berth as she stepped down from the stage for the 15 minute break between matches. Aqua's interest was piqued and she decided to talk to Raika, so she approached her. She followed casually as Raika went into a nearby alley way and lit up a cigarette, leaning against the wall.

"Hey, Raika! That was some pretty good footwork in the match. Your timing was perfect." Aqua said once she was within a few feet.

"Yeah, I know. The fuck do ya want, an autograph?" Raika said dismissively.

Smirking at all that attitude stuffed in such a small body, Aqua responded. "I think you'd want my autograph kid."

"Who are you calling a kid maxi-pad? I'm old enough to be your step-mother." Raika retorted.

"Step-mother?" Aqua said confused.

"Yeah cause I'll fuck your dad and make your real mom kill herself." Raika finished.

"Well I didn't really know my parents, so jokes on you." Aqua said, unbothered.

"Oh boo-hoo, join the fuckin' club brat. I'll find your dad, fuck him, find your mom, and make her kill herself." Raika followed up.

Aqua laughed at the ridiculousness of Raika's insult. "Please, by all means. I'll watch." Aqua slipped out. 'Shit, too much hanging around Yuffie'

At this Raika paused, then laughed. "Hah! I like you kid. What's your name?"

Before Aqua could respond a flaming disc flew at Raika. Aqua was just able to pull her out of the way, so the disc embedded itself into the wall where Raika was just leaning on. Aqua looked at the weapon closer and saw it was a red chakram, a very familiar one. After a few seconds it disappeared in a small flash of light and Aqua heard teeth sucking from above her.

"God dammit! There goes my perfect streak. Thirty two clean kills gone to waste." The voice sighed.

"What? Lea?!" Aqua shouted up.

There stood Lea in his black cloak, leaning against the fire escape of one of the buildings.

"Huh? Wait a minute is that...Aqua! Aqua hey!" Lea said as he jumped over the third story railing and landed right in front of Aqua.

"Don't 'hey' me! You just tried to kill us!" Aqua said, Raika standing stiffly and silently at her side.

"In my defense I didn't know it was you, and I was only aiming at her. She's my mark." Lea said.

"And who the hell wants me dead tampon?" Raika said, tensing her body to fight.

"Now now, that would telling doll." Lea said as he jumped at her with a small knife that was on fire. Before he got to her though Aqua gripped him up and flipped him onto the floor. Hard.

"NO, bad Lea." Aqua said.

"Aqua, I know Ventus said to keep it a secret, but you're reeeeeally messing with our business." Lea said in a forced voice.

"Hmph. All I see is an unwarranted assassination by a fellow keyblade bearer." Aqua said condescendingly.

"Well, news flash princess, we are assassins! That's our job!" Lea said to her.

During the conversation Raika decided she didn't want to stick around any longer, and bolted.

"Damn it! I lost the hit!" Lea said, then glared daggers at Aqua. "You!"

"Take me to Ventus, he has some explaining to do." Aqua said, picking up Lea by his ear and dragging him along.

"No mom! I need to finish the hit! Our reputation is impeccable. We can't fail a contract!" Lea said angrily.

"Too bad, take me to your leader!" Aqua said.

Lea grunted in resignation and opened a portal to his headquarters.

* * *

Aqua found herself in a poorly lit room that smelled like oil and car exhaust. Lea was finally released from her death grip and sat on a chair at a nearby table. The room was empty except that table, and two other people sat there already.

"Sorry Roxas, the hit got away." Lea said.

Roxas slammed his hands on the table in anger and got in Lea's face. "How the hell did she get away?! It was just some old hang in a struggle tournament!"

"Hey it wasn't my fault! I was interrupted by her!" Lea said, bringing everyone's attention to her for the first time.

"Aqua!" the third voice said. Which Aqua recognized as Ventus immediately.

"Ventus? Ventus! You have a lot of explaining to do!" Aqua said as she stalked towards him.

"Shit! Ventus vanish!" Ventus said as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Fuck! I hate that!" Aqua cursed. She heard Roxas snicker from the side.

"And you! What are you guys doing that Lea is trying to kill someone in cold blood, and how the hell did Ventus get involved!" Aqua said violently.

"Hey calm down Aqua don't get your panties in a bunch!" Lea said, causing Roxas to slap his face with his palm.

What proceeded was Aqua destroying their run down hideout and chasing the two of them all about causing untold damage.

* * *

Ventus was sitting atop the clock tower. He was thinking of how he was going to explain to Aqua why he was in an underground hit-man group. He hasn't actually killed anyone yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time before the boss had him do a hit. Lea Roxas and Xion had approached him with the offer, saying that they had reason to believe that his father was part of the underground crime world in Twilight Town. He joined them in hopes of coming across his father. It hasn't been very long, so he knew he had to keep waiting. But he didn't want to let Aqua down.

"Though, I suppose I already let her down by joining a group that kills people for money." he said sullenly to himself.

"Don't feel bad Ventus, we all do things we feel we have to do." Came Xion's voice from behind him. She sat next to him and offered him some of their favorite ice cream.

"Thanks Xion. I just, I would give anything to know where I came from. I guess it's different for you and Roxas though, technically you don't have any parents. Sorry." he said.

"Actually, we were introduced to Sora's mom and dad when we first got back to the island. After explaining what exactly we were Sora's mom just stared at us for a minute. Then she hugged us both so tight and yelled at her husband that they had two more kids now." Xion giggled. "So I guess I have parents. And the feeling of knowing there is somewhere I belong no matter what is the best. So I want to make sure you get that feeling too. You deserve it."

Xion was sitting shoulder to shoulder with Ventus and started rubbing his thigh suggestively. "You deserve to feel good too Ventus."

Ventus blushed and scooted away from Xion, making her giggle more. "W-well thanks for the sentiment. I will do whatever it takes to find my are in this town, I can just feel it." he said.

"That's the spirit. Also, it looks like we might need a new hideout. Hayner's dad's shop seemed to have gone poof." Xion said, pointing to a plume of rising smoke in the distance.

"Damn, they must have pissed Aqua off." Ventus cringed.

"Yeah. I guess it's a good thing we just bought the shop from the old man." Xion said.

"Are there any good nearby spots we can move to?" Ventus asked.

"Move? Are you nuts? We may be loaded but setting up shop in a previously burned down building is the perfect cover. Any rivals that were closing in on our location would never think to keep looking there, they would think we relocated." Xion told him.

"Hm. I suppose you're right Xion. Worst case we can just have the place rebuilt as something else entirely. We have the money for it." Ventus mused.

"Yeah, it's amazing how many people want someone dead." Xion said.

* * *

Raika was seriously considering just killing her opponent Seifer. She had made it just in time for her final match, and the look of surprise and rage on his face all but confirmed he put a hit out on her so he could win by her no-show. She proceeded to beat the fuckery out of him, deliberately keeping him in the ring and making sure she had just the right amount of points to force an overtime round. He was now just laying on the ground. She kept the one orb on him and hit everywhere but that spot to ensure she didn't win yet, and she still had thirty seconds on the clock. The crowd was roaring because to them it was a neck and neck match, but she was coming out ahead. She walked up to his supine form and crouched down to talk to him over the excited cheering.

"You had a hit put out on me didn't you? The Pyrodancer too no less. You went to the best, and I guess I should be flattered. But honestly I'm just very very pissed." she said, planting a heel to dig into his bruised shoulder.

Seifer cried out in pain and looked to the referee, his eyes pleading him to stop the match already.

"Don't bother." Raika told him. "I paid that lard ass enough to feed himself for a month at his favorite restaurant. He isn't stopping this at all. Not even if you forfeit." she grinned manically.

She dug her struggle weapon into his throat as he choked and gagged. The last orb was right on his throat, so to the crowd it just looked like she was trying to pry it off. She pressed and pressed, until a sickening crack rang low against the cheering. She gave herself a few moments to come down from the high of killing someone for the first time, before flicking the last orb off of his corpse just as the clock hit zero. The clock buzzed loudly and the crowd renewed their cheers, oblivious to Seifer's condition as medics came and carried his body off. The ref walked up and announced her the winner, handing her the champion belt and winner's trophy, both of which she held high in triumph.

* * *

Aqua eventually left Roxas and Lea alone and made her way back to the struggle match to see how things played out. She made it just in time to see Raika break Seifer's neck, and be declared the winner. Raika stayed around to sign autographs and take pictures as this time the crowd was too excited to be afraid of her. Eventually she noticed Aqua and as the crowds died down made her way over to her.

"Looks like you won your match." Aqua said evenly.

"Looks like I did, thanks to you." Raika said, in a good mood.

"If I had known you would just go on to kill an innocent guy in your match maybe I would have thought twice about saving you." Aqua accused.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't think twice. As it turns out, Seifer, that's his name by the way, is the guy who put out the hit on me. Hired the Pyrodancer himself to take me out all to win this damn thing by default." Raika informed her.

Aqua thought for a minute and frowned. "He really was going to kill you just to win a stupid tournament?" Aqua asked.

"Yup. You must not keep up much with the trends, but Struggle is a big deal to most people. The struggle king or queen is essentially the Don for a year until the next tournament. Lot's of perks come with the clout, and some people covet it." Raika explained, just swaying side to side gently.

"Well in that case, I'm glad I helped you out. I found where that assassin came from, but he escaped before I could get much more out of him…" Aqua said thinking of how slipper Roxas and Lea had been.

"Oh I know who they were, everyone in the underground world knows who they are. They are the prestigious Twilight Hounds. They only take top dollar for contracts, but have never failed a single one so far." Raika said.

'What? They have only been here for a month or so, how much could they have done in such a short time?!' Aqua thought to herself. "So, how long have the Hounds been around? Surely they could not have accomplished much?" she asked.

"Well they only popped up about a month ago, but they have been so efficient and effective that they have had well over 200 contracts already. They also funneled all business due to their track record so a lot of the minor gangs that did hits have been put out of business. Their only somewhat competition is the Day Break gang. All the smaller gangs have been joining up with them just to stay relevant so they are pretty big now. Where Day Break has size, Twilight Hounds have finesse. The Day Break gang has been hunting the Hounds trying to kill them to eliminate the competition, but the Hounds always kill any enemies that get too close. They are a complete mystery except for a few code names." Raika said.

Aqua processed all of this and wondered just how good were Lea and his group to establish this kind of set up so quickly. "What are their code names?" Aqua asked.

"God, are you a brick wall or something? Look I'm in a good mood and you saved my life so I owe you, but don't think I'm usually this chatty. Ugh. There's the Pyrodancer that we encountered. His victims are usually burnt to a crisp or just beheaded, now I know he uses those weird disc things. Next is the Black Sigil. This one usually doesn't leave anything of his victims, it's as if they were just vaporized or something. Then we have Imaginary Death. This one doesn't ever physically touch the hits, so people assume that they do something to the hit's mind. The hit always has a look or terror frozen on their faces, so it has to be something like that. The last one that's known is the Wayward Son. This one hasn't actually killed anyone yet, he is known to do mainly robbery scores. They say he is swift as the wind and leaves a room looking like a tornado on steroids with hurricanes for arms blew through it. That's all that's known about the Twilight Hounds."

Aqua easily discerned which one was Ventus. Maybe she could get his attention by putting in a request for a robbery? Then he would have to show up. She noticed Raika staring at her calmly. "Thank you for all this information. I really am new around here."

"Well then new girl, why don't I show you around for a bit?" Raika said, hefting her belt over her shoulder.

"Oh, no I wouldn't want to intrude." Aqua kindly declined.

"Non-sense! A pretty girl all by herself? Unheard of. Won't you let me pay back my savior with some drinks and good food?" Raika said, throwing an arm around Aqua's waist.

The height difference was such that Raika's head was just below Aqua's breast, so her arm was awkward on Aqua's waist. "W-well, if it's just to thank me." she conceded.

"Woohoo! A night out in the town, hell yeah!" Raika said, tugging Aqua along to gods know where.

'Oh fuck me' Aqua thought in regret.

* * *

"So like this?"

Toph flexed out her hand and pulled at the space in front of her. On the floor just under her hand was a thick metal spring. Slowly, as she clenched her hand into a fist the spring was pressed down and compressed.

"Very good! You're a natural at this!" Merlin clapped in praise.

Toph smirked and let the tension go. She wasn't metal bending the spring, but using gravity to interact with it. She was learning gravity and spatial magic.

"Yeah, I get that alot. So, I've got gravity down and spatial magic as well. Is there a way to combine the two?" Toph asked.

She had been training with Merlin for the better part of a month and he was enthralled at her potential. "Hm, well at their base forms I don't see a way to fundamentally combine them, but there are skills and spells in each branch that can be used together to great effect if you're clever enough." Merlin said, before suddenly throwing a nearby book at Toph at full speed using aero magic.

Toph deftly side steeped the book and smirked. She had been able to extend her senses with her new powers even further, feeling the slightest distortion in the air and mapping out her surroundings with her manipulation over gravity. "Lay it on me."

Merlin chuckled as Toph's eagerness reminded him of his old protege Aurther. 'God rest his soul'. "Okay. Try this."

Merlin cast a gravaga spell on some nearby chairs, and they were instantly flattened into splinters and sawdust. They were in Merlins special training room so targets were plentiful and there was no need to hold back.

Toph reached deep into the void and cast a gravagaza, enveloping the entire space in a dome of gravity three thousand times the normal amount of the world they were on. Luckily, in this room magic users were immune to magic, but the rest of the room cracked and everything was flattened. Even the floor seemed to push in a few inches, much to Merlin's alarm.

"Holy hells Toph! You damn near ripped the time space distortion orb this room is in!" Merlin said once her spell subsided.

"Whoa. Uh, s-sorry?" Toph squeaked out.

"No child, never be sorry for being powerful. This is fantastic! We just need to make sure you have control over it better. You would have killed everyone and destroyed everything in a half mile diameter with that spell." Merlin said, making Toph gulp.

"Control, got it. I just poured everything I had into it since I thought it was okay. I'll be more careful from now on." she said demurely.

"Ha! Not in here you won't! I will see you become the strongest earth/space mage to have ever existed and I can't do that if you are limiting yourself." Merlin said, reinforcing the room and the spell protecting it by several fold. Then he looked at Toph with an out of place deranged glint in his eye. "You will be Toph! Destroyer of time of space! Mwahahahahaah!"

Toph just grinned like a madwoman and joined in Merlin's maniacal laughter. "HEEEEELLLLLL YEEEAAAAAHHHH!"

* * *

Yuffie casually strolled through the gardens of the castle while hurling shuriken at heartless as they were knocked up in the air by the towns defense system. Between Toph and Cid, they were able to infuse a self sustaining gravity attribute to the system, so now when the heartless were knocked up by the explosion they would float weightlessly in the air for at least ten seconds, depending on their size. Plenty of time for Yuffie to zip a screaming metal death star at them. It wasn't as effective as a keyblade, but those were in short supply at the moment.

'I wonder what Sora is doing...not me that's for sure' Yuffie thought. She sighed at the lack of Sora in her life right now. 'He's been for gone for weeeeeeeeksssss' she complained in her head, even as she destroyed more heartless.

As she hopped along her patrol route, a bright explosion of light caught her attention. It was just down the road and she dashed up to the person she found in the center as the light dissipated. A tall tan woman stood up from a crouched position, and looked around at her surroundings.

'Whoa, is she a freaking amazon?!' Yuffie thought.

The tall woman fixed her gaze on Yuffie and addressed her. "Where am I?"

"Well, hello to you too tree girl. If you must know, you are at the prestigious Radiant Garden Castle. You currently have the honor of speaking to the Great Ninja Yuffie." Yuffie said, striking a pose. "Who are you?"

"I am." the woman said cryptically.

"You arrrrrre...what? I need a noun. A pro noun? Hell I'll even take an adjective as a nickname or something." Yuffie said to her.

"You may address me as Jisma." the now identified woman said impatiently.

"Jisma? Hmm Jisma...Jis-maaaa" Yuffie rolled the name over her tongue every which way.

Jisma became irritated and shouted at Yuffie to stop. "Hey! I'm here on a simple quest. Do you know where I can find a man named Sora? I can tell he was here not too long ago."

Yuffie froze, instantly on edge at the question. She decided to take a closer inspection of the woman. Jisma was easily over six feet tall, she observed. Short black hair, beautiful hazel eyes. Black chest wrappings and black short tights. Tan skin that looked perfect from every angle. And a body that looked carved by Zeus himself. She was obviously from off-world and not a local. You'd be hard pressed to find someone like her in Traverse town.

"Well, suppose I do know a Sora. Who is asking?" Yuffie said, loosening her stance.

Jisma shot forward in an instant, gripping Yuffie with an outstretched hand by the throat. Yuffie substituted herself with a nearby log that was instantly crushed within Jisma's grip. This all happened in an instant.

"Holy shit! You know you won't be able to get an answer if I'm dead right?!" Yuffie yelled at her.

"I knew you wouldn't be undone so easily. My mother would not have bothered to summon me if her foe was weak. Just being associated with Sora is enough to tell me that you are strong. Plus, I can see every nic and dent in your body. You have been through much. You will not die easily. And if anything, I can always eat your flesh to know it's secrets" Jisma stated, following up with a dash right into Yuffie.

Jisma threw punches with so much force that they created shock-waves that caused torrents of air and the ground to up-heave. Yuffie gave each strike a wide berth to avoid the additional hazards. But Yuffie found she was firmly on the defensive, every muscle twitch and reaction dedicated to avoiding the onslaught.

'She's almost as fast as Sora when he's trying!' she thought in alarm.

Yuffie's vision was a blur as she had to depend on pure reaction to avoid being crushed or otherwise mauled to death. Thankfully her reactions were so trained she could react using her conscious mind. She positioned herself over a defense bomb just as it was going to blow up a heartless, and Jisma struck down at her. She dodged and Jisma was caught up in the explosion, causing her to be suspended in the air from the blast and its effects.

Yuffie took a moment to catch her breath. "Phew! You are one tough customer! But, speed will always beat brawn with a little skill thrown in!" Yuffie taunted as she pulled out a kunai and sunk it into Jisma's skull.

Except, it didn't even break the skin. In fact it didn't even cut a single hair. Jisma tensed her muscles and flexed so hard the air distorted around her. This dispelled the gravity effect on her and she quickly righted herself as she fell landing on her feet with a smirk.

"Then will brawn and speed beat just speed?" she asked cockily.

"But how, that shouldn't be-what did you- WAT!" Yuffie screamed in indignation. "You can't flex so hard you dispel gravity! That doesn't even make sense!"

Jisma chuckled at Yuffie's confusion. "I told you, I am. I am Body, I am Being. You aren't a push over though. I may have to use more than half of one percent of my power."

"Half of one percent?! You have to be bluffing." Yuffie balked. She refused to believe all that was less than one percent of Jisma's power.

"Well, seeing is believing." Jisma said, even as she disappeared from Yuffie's view.

'Don't stand still!' Yuffie reminded herself. She's fought many enemies she could not see, whether from magic or pure speed, and learned the number one way to get dead was to just stand still even to try and sense them. If they were too quick for her eyes they were too quick for her other senses as well.

Yuffie danced around randomly, using all of her speed and power to move as fast as she could. It paid off as Yuffie began to notice deep and wide holes form on the ground she was just standing on each time. Jisma was moving with such speed and power the holes she punched in the ground were perfect circles, two feet in diameter. It was as if someone took a hole puncher to the ground somehow. But the holes were getting closer, and Yuffie was running out of ideas. While she could dodge indefinitely, her movements were just too slow compared to Jisma's and she would eventually get caught.

She tried to find a pattern to Jisma's attacks, hoping there was something she could exploit. Luckily, she noticed Jisma's attacks were on a tempo of four for four, and were increased by a fourth every four strikes now. She waited until she was right upon her, about to hit one fourths, then twisted herself into a parry and snaked her body onto Jisma's attacking arm. It worked, and Yuffie was about to break Jisma's arm in as many places as she knew how to but froze at Jisma's chuckle.

"Wow, I'm almost impressed. You were able to keep up with eighty percent of one percent of my strength. I'll hand it to you, not many people in existence could do that. I guess I can give you the one percent now."

Yuffie's eyes widened in alarm and she tried to break Jisma's arm, but found it didn't even budge. Jisma waited a moment to let Yuffie try, before flexing her arm with a howl. Jisma's arm muscles constricted and expanded with such speed and force that each one battered into Yuffie's body as she held the arm. It was as if each muscle was a piston that shot away then back into Yuffie with the force of an elephant on ten protein shakes. Blood blew out of Yuffie's mouth and nose as she fell limply on the floor, her body a mass of bruises.

Jisma looked at her arm as it smoked. She felt amazing as it had been a long time since she got the chance to flex a bit. Only her mother could force her to one hundred percent, but one percent felt great compared to the dormant state she was forced to be in for who knows how long.

"You know what, I'm in a great mood. I'll let you live. If you survive your injuries, get stronger. Faster. Then come back and face me. You might even push me to two percent next time. What an exciting prospect." Jisma said, waving at Yuffie as she lost consciousness. "How refreshing. Maybe this world will have some strong people besides Sora after all. Might as well get some training in before the main event."

With that Jisma walked away, picking a random direction and hoping to find some more strong people.

* * *

Sora found himself standing in a phone booth. It was cramped and red and the city outside of it seems empty save the blaring alarms telling him to head to an evacuation center. He looked down at himself to find he was in the same clothes Shinji wore on the red beach, just clean and unwrinkled. He heard the phone ring and picked it up out of curiosity.

"Sora. It's Lilith." came the voice.

"Lilith? Where am I? When am I?" Sora asked.

"You are right when the first of the Angels came to attack the city, Tokyo-3. You should be running into Shinji soon. Try to let things more or less play out the way they want to. See if you can establish a relationship with Shinji as that will be the key to anchoring his sanity when the enemy tries to break him.." Lilith instructed.

"Well, alright. I'll just wing it then. Will you be able to help me?" Sora asked.

"From time to time, there will be moments like this one where I can insert myself through a medium. I can't say what medium I will be able to use, this time it was a phone. Just be on the lookout and share the kindness you have within you." Lilith answered.

"Right. Talk to you soon." Sora said. After that the line went dead, and a knock from behind him caught his attention.

Sora turned and found Shinji standing there nervously, like a child about to confess to doing something naughty. Sora tried to picture the rage he saw on the old Shinji's face as he tried to kill Asuka on this new timid Shinji. He couldn't fathom what was done to this boy to get him to that point and made it his personal mission to save him from himself. Seeing that Shinji was content with just standing there and not saying anything, Sora decided to make the first move.

"Hey there! Did you need to use the phone?" Sora said cheerfully.

"Oh. Y-yeah. Sorry." Shinji said meekly.

"Hey that's okay I was done anyway. By all means." Sora said, flashing Shinji his trademark smirk as he got out to make space for him.

Shinji mumbled a thank you and went to use the phone. Shinji dug into his pocket and fished out a photo of an attractive purple haired woman. She was leaning over suggestively with a thumbs up in a yellow top that showed all the cleavage. There was a number on the photo, and Shinji punched that in. To his annoyance, Shinji was greeted with a dead tone.

"The phone is down…" Shinji said mostly to himself, throwing a cautious glance to Sora.

"Really? That's odd. I was just using it." Sora said.

"Yeah…" Shinji said back. They both stood there now, unsure of what to do next.

"Oh! I'm sorry how rude of me. My name is Sora!." Sra introduced himself.

"Yes. M-my name is Shinji Ikari…" Shinji greeted, staring pointedly at Sora.

Sora noticed the staring and cocked his head to the side. "What? Is something on my face?"

Shinji stared for a bit longer before lightly shaking his head. "N-no, I was just waiting for your surname so I can address you properly."

"A surname? What's that?" Sora asked.

"Well, l-like your family name. Your last name." Shinji explained nervously.

"Oh! Well, I don't really have a last name. What's wrong with just using my first name?" Sora said.

"W-what? Um, but using a person's first name is usually a sign of being friends with that person. It's not something you do with strangers…" Shinji told him.

"Well, why don't we be friends?" Sora asked.

"W-what? B-but we just met. Why would you want to be friends?" Shinji asked incredulously.

"Why not? I think you're a great guy. You're super polite. So what do you say, friends?" Sora offered his hand.

"W-why would you want to be friends w-with someone like me?" Shinji said, eyes cast down to the floor.

Before Sora could reassure him, a loud crash happened down the street. Shinji got out of the phone both and both he and Sora looked at the form of a titanic green alien beast with a weird pointed mask and ribs covering a red glowing orb.

Sora's face hardened as he wondered how he was going to beat it. 'The first angel, it's here.'


	19. Hikari

So, while I'll try to keep the major events in worlds intact, I'm not going to to stress the minute details and order of events. There will be a strong accuracy but if you spot a slight inaccuracy, please don't crucify me. Or do, but make it count. Also in the middle of watching and reading High School DxD as that is what has the most requests for next world. There's a few already in queue, so don't hesitate to throw in your own suggestions!

* * *

Sora threw himself over Shinji as an explosion went off near them. He was about to put up a reflect spell when he noticed a car drifting in front of them, blocking the heat from the blast. A woman in a black dress with fair skin and purple long hair tapped down her shades and motioned for them to get in.

"Shinji Ikari?" she asked.

"M-miss Misato?" Shinji responded.

"The one and only." she grinned. Her smile fell when she looked to sora. "Why aren't you in the evacuation facilities? Whatever, there's no time. Both of you, get in!"

Both of them got in, with Sora in the back seat. Misato took off like a bullet away from the destruction the Angel was doing to the city. Once on a relatively quieter road, Misato addressed Shinji.

"So, for a kid who has seen what you have today you sure don't ask many questions." she noted.

"Well, I-I just do as I'm told. I find that things go easier that way." Shinji answered.

"What about you in the back? I didn't know Shinji was bringing friends." Misato said to Sora.

"Well actually, I kind of just got lost I guess? We just met today, but yeah we are friends. I was about to make a run for it with Shinji when you pulled up. Totally cool drift by the way." Sora said easily.

"You were willing to put yourself in harms way for someone you just met that day? Wow, ballsy kid. And yeah, I'm a pretty good driver." Misato boasted.

"So um…" Shinji piped up. "A-are we going to see my father?"

"Well, yeah. He called you here after all. Don't you know what he does?" she asked.

"No. All I know is that he left me alone." Shinji muttered.

"Your father is the leader of Nerv, an important organization. But, I guess you don't like him much. I guess we have that in common huh." Mistato said somberly.

Sora just sat back and took in the exchange, trying to follow Lilith's advice to let things play out. They reached a complex and it was a long way down with trains and freight elevators. Along the way they got a view of what Misato called the Geo Front, an underground haven for life and Nerv. A world beneath the world. Finally, Shinji noticed they were going in circles and called out the fact that they were lost.

"Uh...Miss Misato, a-are we lost?" he gingerly said.

"We aren't lost! I just haven't gotten the full lay out of this place yet!" she defended.

Sora just sighed. He was keeping the hands off approach, but he was also trying to figure something out. Since coming to this world he hasn't felt much of his power, as if it was gone. He was initially alarmed but noticed that something else was there where his power used to be. His thoughts were interrupted as the doors to the elevator they were on opened revealing an attractive blonde in a swimsuit and white lab coat.

'Weird combo but it's someone's kink' Sora thought to himself.

After a stern reprimand to Misato the blonde name Doctor Ritsko Akagi led the group to where they needed to be. It was a dark room and Sora felt something off about the place. The lights flicked on to reveal they were in a huge hanger, with an equally huge humanoid machine held up by it. It was purple with a menacing face that had a horn shooting out of the top of it's head. That's all that could really be seen, but Sora could sense it. The heart within the machine. There was a human trapped inside of it, and Sora realized this must be one of those machines Lilith told him about. He overheard Shinji talking to his dad, being told he was expected to use the giant robot to defeat the angel.

'What a bastard' Sora thought as the senior Ikari told Shinji to either pilot the evangelion or to leave.

It didn't look like Shinji was going to pilot, and his father made good on his word, telling someone to go get a person named Rei.

"Rei."

"Yes?"

"The spare is useless. You will have to pilot."

"...Yes."

Sora walked up to Shinji and just gave him a hug. He knew that some people were just not fighters, and it isn't fair to have to fight when you just want peace. Life wasn't fair, he knew that well, but that didn't mean everyone just had to deal with it. It was okay to not want to. Shinji melted into Sora's hug, latching on to the kindness.

His father grunted and asked who he was.

"This is Sora. He is a civilian who I found with Shinji. He didn't make it to the shelters in time so I thought it best to bring him with me for his safety." Misato stated. She hated forcing Shinji to take on this great responsibility, and at the very least would make sure Sora wouldn't get in trouble for her decision.

"So be it." The leader of Nerv said, just as a blue haired girl was wheeled out on a gurney by some medics.

Sora instantly recognized the girl and couldn't stop a low mumble from coming out. "Lilith?"

Nobody heard him except and she filed that information away for later. Shinji stared at the girl as she bled through her bandages, clearly in no shape to even stand up on her own. He started to feel the weight of his cowardice, knowing that if he didn't fight, she would have to. This is of course exactly what his father wanted, to pressure him to pilot the evangelion. Suddenly an explosion rocked the geofront causing everything to shake. Rei was knocked out of her gurney and painfully hit the floor and Shinji rushed towards her, holding her up even as her blood stained his shirt. He stared at the blood, never having seen anyone else's and thought how wrong this all was. A large steel beam broke off from the ceiling right above him breaking him from his thoughts, and he thought he was going to be crushed. He closed his eyes but nothing happened, so he looked up and saw the giant purple machine had raised its hand on it's own to protect him from the debris.

Sora once again was stopped short from trying to cast a protective spell, and he wondered if he needed to actually do anything. Any life threatening thing must have happened before and Shinji still made it to the end, so maybe his knee jerk reactions would just make things worse. He saw Shinji staring at the giant machine that seemed to be staring right back. Shinji looked down at Rei who was cringing in pain, and then up to his father. Sora saw Shinji's chest fill with air as he shouted out to his father.

"I'll pilot! Please, father!"

His father smirked, and called the technicians to prepare Unit-01 for Shinji.

* * *

Sora was made to wait in a random break room while everything went down after Shinji got into the evangelion. They told him he was not under arrest or anything of the sort, but he knew that he still wasn't allowed to just walk around as he pleased. Unfortunately, he underestimated the underhandedness of Nerv. As he was just laying on a bench living his best life, a Nerv agent snuck in the room and got near him. The agent pulled out a handgun with a silencer attached and aimed right at Sora's head. The gun went off as dull as a hammer to a pillow, and Sora jerked. Only instead of the small gush of gore the agent expected, he saw a small orange hexagon appear where the bullet hit. The hexagon acted as a shield and stopped the bullet which was now crushed up against it, and Sora turned his head wondering what all the noise was. When Sora looked up his eyes locked with the agent's and they both lounged at one another. The agent was well trained, but Sora's speed was superhuman and the agent was run through by Sora's keyblade. Having killed the would-be assassin, Sora noticed his keyblade looked very weird. It was now made of bright orange light that formed the shape of his Kingdom Key.

"Well, Lilith did say Nerv was a terrible place. I'm not safe here, and I can't just destroy the place. Damnit, this complicates things." he said to himself.

The geofront was built like a fortress, with almost every door needing proper credentials to access. Sora searched the agent and took his ID card, gun, and shades for prosperity.

"Alright, time to get the fuck out of here and redraw the plan." he said, sneaking out of his room.

* * *

Ritsko was alarmed at the sudden pattern blue alarm that went off within the walls of the geofront, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. She couldn't just ignore it, but the angel currently beating Shinji to death was a more pressing matter. She heard Misato yelling out Shinji's name in tandem to the monitors showing the evangelion's cranium being breached. The visual feed they had showed unit-01 spraying blood from it's head where the angel had pierced through. Ritsko looked ruefully at the commander of Nerv, Shinji's father as he sat passively on his console above them all as if they didn't just blow their one shot to make it all work.

'Accursed man' she thought to herself. But as she was about to look away she saw a faint smirk work it's way on his face. 'What the hell are you smiling at!'

Suddenly the various monitors and graphs began to beep and shine. Unit-01 had miraculously reactivated itself, despite it being in every sense out of commission. The jaw of the machine unhinged from it's sealed state with a very beast like roar, showing giant white teeth. The unit ran into the angel, beating it back and grabbing it's arms, breaking them like twigs. The angel was knocked down and the machine began pounding into it, using the angel's own broken rib pieces to break into its orb. Sensing it's impending doom the angel decided that while it may not have been able to prove to its brothers and sisters that it was the best form of life, it could at least take down this great enemy so they would not have to deal with it. Such was it's hatred for Lilith and her spawn that the angel wrapped itself around the evangelion, and supercharged it's core and reversed it's A.T. field. The explosion that resulted knocked out the visual feed and leveled a large bulk of the city.

The people down in the command center of Nerv all held their breath as they waited for the feed to be reestablished. The commander simply held his grin, even as the feed came back on to show unit-01 walking through the flames.

His grin became a full smirk. "She's finally awake."

* * *

Sora made his way out of the geofront and made it top side. He only had to kill the guards at the very last exit doors, and he stalked about the dark streets of Tokyo-3. The fighting had died down some time ago he noticed, and it seemed like the city had not been repopulated yet. Sora followed the sound of heavy machinery and came across Nerv personnel dismantling the defeated angel. It was blown to bits, and by bits that meant chunks the size of cars. Sora was about to move on when a thought struck him.

'Wait, the red core thing is like the heart of the angel. Maybe I can use a piece of it to find out more about what's going on with my magic.'

Seeing a piece of the angel's core about the size of a fist across the way, he locked on with a flow motion connecting it with a nearby building ledge that would be out of the way. He dash forward in a split second, appearing for less than that to pick up the piece of red core, then dashed to the top of a nearby building out of the way of the Nerv workers below. Sora jumped away for a few more blocks and stopped finally to sit and focus on the orb. To his surprise, it felt exactly like a heart.

"You're so strange, you feel just like a heart. I wonder if…" he said, trying his best to link with the core.

He felt the core violently fight back, the few hundred thousand souls that resided in this particular piece of the core did not want him to intrude on their private space, and he even saw a small orange shield pop up in front of his face.

"Oh you don't like that do you? Well too bad.I want to know more about you and I will get into you whether you let me or not!" he told the core.

Sora struggled with the souls within, forcing his will over theirs and ultimately finding the only way to get into the collective heart of the core was to beat all the souls into submission. With that in mind, instead of trying to push against the souls, he pulled them all into his own heart.

* * *

Sora found himself in his Dive to Heart, but it looked different. It was now an endless plane of just dirt, with a grey sky filled with clouds. Around him the multitude of souls stood, almost human like in appearance. They seemed disoriented but quickly focused on Sora, as collectively they knew he dragged them in there and that he was the enemy right now. With a deafening roar they all changed him. Sora quickly summoned Ultima Weapon and jumped high into the air.

"Final!" he yelled.

As the light dispersed Sora summoned cyclones of fire to devastate the ranks of the red souls. They were weak, only having their numbers to boast about. He easily cut down scores of them at a time with each swing of his many keyblades. Eventually, there were no souls left.

* * *

Sora went back to the outside world and found the core to offer no resistance now. The souls were still present, they were just subdued now and allowed him to do as he pleased. So he poked and prodded until he found himself inside of the core.

* * *

Sora found himself inside of a vast red ocean. Surprisingly, he could breath in this water. He swam about, feeling the souls passively watch him and keep a short distance away from him. He didn't know where he was going, as far as he could see around him was just red. He went to summon his keyblade to propel him through the water but as soon as the souls saw the bright orange weapon they began frantically howling and moving erratically. Sora was alarmed at the stark change and readied for a fight. To his surprise, the water in front him began to crack as if it were made of solid glass. The crack grew and seemed to go on for miles until finally Sora felt his heart get pushed out by a tidal wave of force.

* * *

Now back in the real world, Sora quickly looked down at the red piece of crystal in his hand. Slowly it began to crack and red liquid leaked from them. After a few moments, the entire thing exploded into a gush of red water and dried into the air. Completely destroyed.

"What...did I do?" Sora asked himself.

He didn't know what this all meant, and he was no closer to figuring out what was up with his powers in this world. Frustrated, he kicked at the ground and decided to keep moving to find somewhere warm for the night.

* * *

Hikari Hokari was a young woman who was the class representative at her school for her classroom 2B. She had two sisters, a father, and a deceased mother. She was average looking, with plain brown hair split into long ponytails behind her head. She had brown eyes, with freckles dotting her cheeks and nose. She wasn't particularly curving like some of the other girls her age, but she could still hold her own during gym classes. She never let any perceived shortcomings bring her down though, because what lacked in outward appearance she more than made it for it with internal fortitude. She was steadfast and reliable with a strong sense of justice. She was also very compassionate and tried to view things from other people's perspectives to better understand them. Since her mom died she has had to pick up the role of maternal caregiver and she fulfills it very well, ensuring her sisters and father are fed and taking care of themselves. Her sweet nature was what stopped her as she made her way to school, because as she walked down the street she noticed a young man sitting against the wall of a building asleep.

'Is he homeless? He looks like he should be in school? Maybe he's just cutting classes?' she thought to herself, before deciding the direct approach was the best approach. 'Won't find anything out by just standing here.

"Excuse me? Sir?" Hikari said, gently tapping Sora's shoulder.

In an instant, she felt her face pressed hard against the wall and her hand bent into her back. 'Wha?"

"Who are you, who sent you?" Sora said, having put her in that position. He was pressed flush against her back and she could feel his hard body through their thin clothes.

"I-I'm Hikari! Hikari Horaki! I go to school just down the road, but I saw you sitting there and was wondering if you were alright!" Hikari said, her brain finally registering that she was slammed into the wall by the man.

Sora had reacted to being touched per his training with Yuffie. But as the fog of sleep cleared he realized there was no threat, and her story was perfectly believable. He let the girl go with a bashful chuckle. "Sorry about that, force of habit."

"I-it's okay" Hikari said whilst rubbing her sore arms. "Where did you learn to move like that? It happened so fast I didn't even realize until a few moments later."

"Well I've learned to watch my back, even when asleep. The world is a pretty dangerous place after all. I just reacted to being touched while asleep. I'm a light sleeper." Sora said to her.

"Interesting. Well, I still want to know who you are." Hikari said, regaining her origin focus.

"Oh! The name's Sora. No last name, before you ask. Just Sora." he said.

"Well, my name is Hikari Horaki. Are you a student?" she asked him.

"No I'm not a student. I'm just visiting family." Sora said, trying to talk his way out of this.

"But you're wearing student clothes, and you said you have no last name so you must be an orphan, what family are you visiting?" Hikari said, narrowing her eyes at him.

Sora silently sweat under her accusing stare, cursing that he was so bad at lying. 'I could just kill her and be done with it' he thought to himself, but almost immediately yelled at himself for thinking of such a thing about an innocent civilian girl. Plus, she was kind of cute. She felt warm to Sora for some reason. Still, she was currently grilling him. "Um, uh you see, these are all the clothes I have?"

"Oh no you don't buster, I've seen this game before. Whether or not I startled you is irrelevant right now because you're trying to skip out on school! Well I won't let you!" Hikari said, stepping closer to Sora.

"Well I'm being honest about having no family! I'm homeless, that's why I'm sleeping on the street." he replied.

"Hmph. Well, that may be true but you're still coming with me to school. If you don't get a proper education then you'll never get a good job and off the streets." she said, a bit softer this time. "Come on, we can get there early enough to talk to the principal and enroll you if you aren't already. I will help you with whatever you need."

Sora looked in awe as Hikari extended her hand out to him. He was completely floored by the kindness and light coming from Hikari at this moment. She was willing to trust him, a complete stranger, and help him get to a point that he could be self sufficient. She wasn't judging or blaming him or even letting out a bothered sigh. She was genuinely this kind. He felt something in the deepest part of his heart stir, something that had been dormant despite not knowing when it began to be so.

"Light…" he said, moved to tears. Hikari was so pure she could be a princess of heart. It painfully reminded him of Kairi from before his journeys ever began. Just her him and RIku on the island. Before things got so complicated. Before he felt his light slowly getting choked by apathy and jaded points of view. He cried, moved to tears as the nostalgia hit harder than an attack from Xemnes.

Hikari was taken by surprise when Sora pulled her into a hug and cried into her shoulder. She was a head and a half shorter than him so it was a bit awkward, but she let him do so. She was touched that he wasn't a macho man that didn't stifle his emotions, even if she didn't know why he was crying at this moment.

After a few minutes, Sora got off of her and wiped his face. He beamed one of his personal smiles at her, the one full of sun and light that he hadn't been able to give in a long time. She had to turn away to hide her blush.

"W-well, if you're feeling better now, we should be on our way Sora!" she said.

"Yeah sorry, I don't know what came over me." he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"It's okay, tehe." she giggled, happy he was happy.

"Well, lead the way Hikari!" Sora said, walking off in the wrong direction.

"Sora! It's this way!"

* * *

Shinji had spent many days in a hospital bed. Upon choosing to continue piloting unit-01, it was arranged for him to stay with Misato. She was nice enough, but he was quickly over the microwave food and booze that was the welcome home party, and stayed in his room mostly. Today was the day he was to start attending his new school, and he sat in that very same school right now, in his class of 2B. He took a look around and saw that he was pretty early, as only a handful of people were present. Ayanami, the blue haired girl he saw when he first arrived, wasn't present. He knew they had the same class, though not where she sat yet. The rest of the students seemed to be minding their own business, but there were two that caught his eye. Mainly because one of them was staring him down, and the other was fretting over the other.

The boy staring him down was tall, a head taller than himself, and wore a dated dark tracksuit. He looked beefy and if looks could kill Shinji was sure he would be a puddle of blood on the floor. The other boy was a bit shorter than Shinji, with large glasses and a recording camera on his desk. Shinji was wondering what they could want with him, when a familiar voice caught his attention outside of their door.

"Well how was I supposed to know that door was a sliding door?!"

"Sora every door is a sliding door! Where the hell have you been all your life?!"

'Hikari and Sora? Sora!' Shinji thought to himself happily. He had missed Sora, the only person to show him kindness in a very long time.

Shinji got up to go follow the voices and find Sora, when the kid in the tracksuit caught his attention with a yell.

"Hey new kid! I want to see you outside during lunch. Do not miss it." he said threateningly.

Shinji was afraid of the forceful nature of this boy, but decided to ignore him in favor of going after Sora.

"That little! He snubbed me! His ass whooping is going to be so much worse now." the boy said to himself.

* * *

Hikari and Sora now stood before the principal, waiting to hear if the school had any records of Sora. Of course Sora knew they wouldn't, but he gladly humored Hikari who just couldn't believe he had never been to school.

"Sora, I'm afraid there are no records of you ever attending any school anywhere. What have you been doing all this time?" the principal stated.

"Well, since my parents died I've been on my own. Raised by wolves, living off the city. That kind of thing." Sora said, thinking he was on a roll.

"There are no wolves left…" Hikari stated.

There was a slight tension in the room before the principal sighed. "Sorry Miss Horaki but I can't just let a person we know nothing about into our school. There is a safety concern."

Hikari went red at the face before reeling in her anger, but spoke with no less afront. "Safety concern? Sora lives on the streets! There's blood on his shirt, he reeks of gunpowder, and he has never been to school apparently! The only safety concern is for him, not of him. He needs our help, please Sir."

"Now I'm sorry but the answer is no." the principal said, firm in his decision.

* * *

Shinji was surprised at how loud Sora and Hikari were, but was grateful for it because it made following them easy. He ended up facing the door to the principal's office, and could hear Hikari talking loudly. He could make out that she was mentioning Sora's name multiple times, and entered.

"P-pardon the intrusion." Shinji said, shrinking that all eyes were on him now but smiling when noticing one pair of those eyes belonged to Sora.

"Shinji buddy! You're alive!" Sora said, walking over to him and hugging him.

Shinji let himself be selfish and enjoyed the hug without breaking it. "S-so you will be attending this school now? I just got transferred here myself. I'm glad you'll be here."

"Well that's what we were trying to do, but the principal won't allow it." Hikari said, clearly flustered that the principal wouldn't budge on this matter.

"W-what? Why not Sir?" Shinji asked, finally walking out of the hug and facing the principal.

"Shinji Ikari! What a pleasant surprise! You start here today yes?" the principal said with forced joy. He was more or less told the Shinji would begin attending his school and was given quite the amount of money to make sure all was well while he studied there.

"Yes Sir. My friend was trying to enroll? W-was there a particular reason he can not?" Shinji said, disheartened at the thought of Sora not being around.

"W-well. You see, Sora isn't really the type of student we cater to here…" the principal said.

"Oh…" Shinji said, depression thick in his tone.

The principal could already feel the funding slipping away, and so quickly changed his attitude. "B-but you are one the esteem saviors of mankind, I'm sure you are a fantastic judge of character. If you think he would be a good fit then by all means, he can attend." the principal said, hiding the bitter taste of being a bitch in the back of his throat.

"Y-yes! Sora is a great person!" Shinji quickly said, and Sora smiled at him for the vote of confidence.

"Then it's settled. Sora, you may attend this school. Now where to put you…"

"Sir, it is at my actions Sora is here. I would like him to attend class 2B, so that I can keep a close eye on him." hikari said, glad to be getting somewhere.

"2B? No no that classroom won't do…" the principal said nervously.

"Please Sir, if it's all the same? It would mean a lot to me." Shinji said, taking a chance and playing the hero card.

'Damn kids don't know anything about anything…' the principal thought to himself. "Fine. Fine fine, but I am holding Miss Horaki personally responsible for Sora. he will be your classmate. Take good care of him."

"Woohoo! Thanks guys, you're the best buds ever!" Sora said jovially, pulling Hikari and Shinji into a hug.

They both blushed and smiled at him.

"Now go, classes will be starting soon." the principal instructed them, shooing them away and out of his office.

* * *

Misato was having a bad day. She just got done all of the paperwork she had to do, when she got a report of three dead agents. One killed by unknown means, and two killed by a gun of a caliber issued to their unit. As head of Tactics and Combat she is by default in charge of security, so these were her men. She may have just started working at Nerv, but it was very concerning that a murder happened right under their noses even if it was during an angel attack. She began to review the available footage and was shocked at what she saw. The techs hadn't had a chance to enhance and splice the footage, but she clearly saw what was happening.

Sora, the boy she brought with her, was essentially detained on the Commanders orders. An agent approaches silently to kill Sora. Then it happens. An A.T. pops into existence and protects Sora from the bullet fired by the would be assassin. Sora notices the agent, and runs through him with a strange orange blade, quicker than the camera frame rate can pick up. She sees Sora ransack the agent, and make his way out of the compound and he is eventually confronted by two guards. It seems she was the only one who didn't get the memo to kill Sora, because upon seeing him the two agents immediately begin shooting at him. Sora jumps and spins in the air, expertly shooting both of them between the eyes. Then he ran off into the town, out of the camera's view.

Misato was floored by what she saw. The kind of training needed to make such perfect shots was top of the line, and there is no accounting for the inhuman speed he moved at. All of that isn't even scratching the surface of the possible A.T. field. Misato sat and rewatched the footage multiple times before being satisfied that she had seen everything there was to see in them. She then picked up the phone and dialed her friend Ritsko who she knew would still be working.

"What do you want Misato?"

"Well hello to you too. I'd think you'd be a bit more chipper seeing how we beat the first angel."

"We didn't beat the angel, the Eva beat the angel. Not us nor Shinji had control of the eva's actions after it deactivated."

"Well...I guess. Who did then?"

"Exactly."

"Oh. I guess that is kind of off putting."

"You think? I'm the head of several departments all having to do with the Eva and I still don't know everything about it."

"What is the Eva then?"

"Look, I know you didn't call to play therapist. What do you need Misato?"

"I got my hands on the footage of the murders earlier."

"Oh the one with Sora? Quite fascinating isn't it?"

"I need to know Rits. Is that an A.T. field he is using?"

"All signs point to yes. But he himself isn't an angel, or at least the Magi didn't register him as anything but normal. I am investigating further, but as you well know he is long gone. The commander has put a kill on sight order on him."

"Really? But he's just a kid!"

"Really? Just a kid? He killed three highly trained agents in the world's most secure facility."

"Well, we started it. I saw the way the first agent approached him. He was to be assassinated. Only one person has authority to order the goons around other than me."

"...You should think before you say something you'll regret."

"I didn't say anything, I'm just thinking how the commander expects anything less than a full assault squad to take down a kid that can use an A.T. field."

"A valid concern. But let the grunts worry about that. We have the angels to deal with soon, and you have to keep our mentally unstable pilot stable."

"Ugh don't remind me. What was I thinking trying to take care of a child? I can't even take care of myself, why didn't you stop me!?"

"Now now, the bed is nice and comfy. Lay in it."

"Bleh. I hate you sometimes."

"Love you too. Now I'm getting back to work. If you're done your paperwork you should go get rest for the both of us. It only goes downhill from here…"

"If ya say so. Love ya Rits. Don't forget to masturbate." The line goes dead.

"...One day I'm going to fuck the purple right out of that hair of yours."

* * *

Sora was seated next to Hikari in class, to her left. Shinji convinced Hikari to rearrange his seat so he was to the left of Sora himself. They still had a few minutes before the bell rang, despite the principal making it seem like they needed to rush. They idly chatted with each other, talking about their likes and dislikes when the tall jock from earlier came up to Shinji's desk and slammed his foot on it, startling Shinji.

"New kid, didn't forget what I told you did I?" he said.

"Toji! Why did you kick Ikari-kun's desk?" Hikari said, miffed at the rudeness displayed by her classmate.

"What, me and Shinji are pal's, right Shinji?" Toji said, putting his hand on Shinji's shoulder and discreetly squeezing painfully.

Sora knew a bully when he saw one, and got and gripped Toji's forearm incredibly hard, forcing him to let out a yelp of pain and letting go of Shinji. "If you ever hurt Shinji again, I will rip your jaw from your face and feed it to you."

"Whoa other new kid, what the hell is your deal?! You wanna go!?" Toji said, shaking his arm after Sora let go.

"Both of you settle down!" Hikari screamed at them.

Toji faltered but Sora was not fazed. "He was gripping Shinji's shoulder to hurt him. As class rep you can't just let it slide."

"Is this true Shinji? Did Toji just hurt you?" Hikari said, an uncertain tone in her voice.

Shinji looked at all the eyes staring at him and began to panic. 'I-I'm nothing, no one should get in trouble because of me.' he thought. "N-no, I think his hand is just a little big, it was just heavy."

Toji grinned, ignorant of Sora's death glare. Hikari just sighed and told him to go back to his seat because the bell was about to ring.

"Don't forget, lunch time Ikari."

Shinji just gulped and Sora rolled his eyes.

"Shinji, if that guy so much as breathes at you wrong I'll beat the snot out of him!" Sora reassured him.

"O-okay. Just don't get in trouble f-for me. I'm not worth it." Shinji said, looking down at his desk.

Sora was about to retort when Hikari stood and yelled at the class.

"Stand! Bow! Sit!" as the teacher walked in.

Sora was delighted to find that the desks all had electronic pads in them that allowed internet access and for the students to talk to each other.

He sent a warning to Toji, who snorted loud enough for him to hear.

'STAY AWAY FOR SHINJI OR ELSE'

'Or else wHat nEw kid i'LL beat you too!1' was the reply.

Sora smirked and made himself content with waiting for the fated lunch time encounter. As he let class drone on, his thoughts went to his friends back home, and how they were doing. This far away and back in time, his connection to them was weak enough that he couldn't really check on how they were, only verify that they were still alive. He was glad he could at least know that fact, it helped keep his worries down a bit.

He looked over to Hikari who was diligently taking notes. Usually he wouldn't spare a second glance on such a serious girl, but she reminded him of Aqua a bit. A serious person with a kind personality to balance it out. Sora idly wondered why no one thought it weird that a seventeen year old guy was in a class full of fourteen year olds, but decided to just let it ride. Stranger things were seen everyday after all. Finally, the lunch bell rang, and Sora turned to see Toji give a menacing smirk to the back of Shinji's head before walking out with his glasses wearing lackey trailing behind him.


	20. Hikari In Danger

Shinji nervously made his way outside. He told Sora to meet him in the cafeteria, but that was just to shake him off. He didn't want anybody but him to get hurt. He arrived at an open area and saw Toji, who motioned him to follow. The two of them along with the glasses wearing kid walked until they were in a secluded area surrounded by trees. As soon as they were hidden Toji turned and decked Shinji right in the mouth, busting his lip and making Shinji fall to the ground.

"That was for my sister." Toji said, looking down on him. "What do you think Kensuke? Should I give him another?"

Kensuke squatted down on the fallen Shinji and apologetically explained that Toji's sister had gotten hurt in the Angel fight, and that Shinji's foot had caused it.

"It's not like I wanted to pilot that thing…" Shinji said as he got up.

Toji twitched, and quickly walked up to him, decking him again. Shinji layed there too dizzy to move, and Toji walked off with Kensuke.

* * *

Sora knew something was up. He didn't want to think Shinji ghosted him, but he knew better than to expect the usual from Shinji. He had seen him at his worst, filled with hate and trying to kill Asuka. He knew the layered issues were something he may never fully understand, so he didn't take it personally. Still, this meant that Toji probably got to him. Good, now he had a punching bag. The lunch bell rang again signaling the end of lunch. A lot of girls had come up to him, but he wasn't interested in them at all. Sadly he didn't see Hikari, so he picked up his trash and threw it away as he walked back to class.

When he entered the classroom, Shinji was already there. He had an ice pack to his cheek and dried blood clearly visible on his lips. Fury built up in Sora as he glared back at Toji who was also in his seat. Toji just glared back, unbothered by Sora.

'Oh I am going to put the fear of GOD in Toji' Sora thought.

"Hey Shinji. I missed you at lunch. Did something happen?" Sora started.

"N-n-no I-I fell down t-the stairs" Shinji stuttered out.

"Really? Wow I didn't know they had stairs outside." Sora said, easily cornering him.

Shinji's eyes widened and he panicked. "W-Why do you care anyway! Just leave me alone!"

Sora was taken aback at Shinji's rejection. "What? Shinji it's me, it's Sora. You don't have to be afraid of me. I care about you." he said as he tried to reach out for Shinji.

"NO DON"T TOUCH ME!" Shinji screamed as he shot up from his desk, knocking over his chair.

He stood there, hyperventilating, and finally made a dash for the door. He bumped into Hikari as she entered, but didn't stop at all. Hikari looked at Sora in confusion.

"Toji beat Shinji during lunch, but Shinji will never tell." Sora informed her.

"You can't prove anything!" Toji yelled at him.

Hikari wasn't able to deal with the situation as the teacher entered the room just then.

"Everyone, to their seats!. Rise! Bow! Sit!"

* * *

True to her word, after classes were finished Hikari told Sora to wait for her at the front gate since she had cleaning duty, so they could walk for a bit and figure out what to do about his "situation". Sora thought it was adorable and said he would wait. As he walked outside he noticed Toji strolling along. He was also alone. Sora wasted no time and walked faster to catch up to him, bumping into his shoulder hard when he finally caught up.

"Hey watch where you're-HEY! It's you, Sora! What, you want a piece of me as well?" Toji said.

"I highly doubt your 'fight' with Shinji was anything else but one sided. I'm here to show you what that feels like." Sora said cooly.

Toji was fed up with Sora and lounged with a wide hook. Sora decided to play with his food, and bobbed and weaved out of the way of every punch hook or kick thrown his way. After a few minutes Toji was getting tired. That's when Sora decided to throw a hard punch that dug into Toji's shoulder. Sora had great control, and only used enough force to bruise the bone, not break it. About the same level of pain, with not as much obvious damage. Sora sent his heel into Toji's right thigh, and Toji buckled hard hitting his face on the floor.

To Toji Sora's hits felt like 2 ton weights slamming into his body. He couldn't believe someone could hit that hard. He could only tremble in pain as Sora pressed his shoe onto the back of his neck, pressing painfully on his vertebrae.

"Now you listen and you listen well, I am the new big bad wolf in this town. If you so much as see me walking down the same sidewalk as you, you cross the fuckin street. In class, you don't talk or even look at me or Shinji. Or Hikari for that matter, she might catch your stupid. If you ever cross me or my friends again, because I know you beat up Shinji, I will rip your arms off and beat you with them. Then, I'm going to shove my hands into your hands like a glove and use your own hands to choke you to death! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?" Sora yelled at him.

"Y-y-y-"

"WHAT!? I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"YES! Yes I'm sorry yes!" Toji cried.

"Yes, Yes you are." Sora seriously thought about just killing Toji right then and there. More out of pure malice than anything. But before he could make the decision he heard Hikari's voice calling for him a bit away.

"Sora where are you?"

'She must have finished up with cleaning duty.' he thought. "Well Toji, today is your lucky day, you get to keep on living your waste of a life for a bit longer. Now please, don't make me regret not ending you." he said as he stomped on Toji's face, knocking him out.

Sora used flowmotion to get right behind Hikari, giving her a scare when she turned and saw him.

"Sora! My goodness, you scared me, don't sneak up on me like that!" she said, swatting his shoulder playfully.

"Sorry sorry. But just as I thought, you're cute when you're flustered." he said.

She flushed and turned. "Sora! Be decent! Let's go already."

Sora just chuckled and followed her as she walked. After a few blocks Hikari brought up what happens next.

"So, where will you be staying tonight?" she asked.

"Any corner that doesn't have much crap on it." Sora passively said.

"Well, I guess that's what you have been doing for the longest huh." she said, thoughtful.

"Actually, yes. I usually just catch a nap whenever and wherever I can haha" Sora chuckled.

Hikari looked about nervously, a blush firmly on her face. "W-well, I could ask my dad if h-he would put you up at our place.." she said, rubbing her hands over one another.

Sora was about to explode with how cute she was being, and decided to commit. "If he doesn't mind. I'd like something soft to sleep on for a change. Even a wooden floor beats cold solid concrete."

"Okay, I-I'll ask him." Hikari said, taking out her phone and dialing her father.

Sora watched the animated conversation before him with glee. Her father must have been teasing her by how red in the race she was. After a few minutes, she hung up and taking a deep breath turned to face him with a smile. "He said yes, for the foreseeable future you are welcome in the Horaki household."

Sora shouted with joy and lifted her up with a twirl and into a hug. Hikari blushed even more but returned the hug. "H-he said as long as you're there, you'll be my responsibility since I picked you up from the streets. So don't make me regret this, I'm sticking my neck out for you Sora."

"I promise, I won't bring any harm to you or your family and I'll pull my own weight." he said.

"Okay, I'll hold you to that Sora. Well, let's go then!" Hikari said, leading them to her home.

Before he turned to follow her Sora looked over his shoulder, feeling something was off but unable to place it. "Hmm…"

"Sora come on, I have to put dinner on!"

"Coming Hikari!"

* * *

"Holy fuckin shite boss, the lad looked right at me barrel!" said a large burly man in camo fatigues and short cut orange hair.

"That's impossible Bravo, we are 10 klicks from Bandit. Confirm for Tango?" said an equally large asian man with a similar haircut but with black hair.

"Bandit confirmed for Tango Alpha, but we made eye contact, as if he knew I was looking at him. Something is off I tell ya." bravo said.

"Would both of you boys give it a rest already, you're givin me a headache." a tall american woman with half her shoulder-length hair braided said.

"Echo, there's no room for mistakes. We have to make it clean, as in absolutely silent. We aren't here to kill civies, so no goddamn casualties." Alpha told her.

"BAH why didn't you just take the shot just now then Bravo?" Echo said.

"The wind weren't right, and the las would have gotten painted in brains." Bravo said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And there was a witness." Alpha stressed, glaring at Bravo.

"Yes yes, witness was there too, shite." Bravo said with an eye roll.

"Well, we need to choke up the perimeter if we want to catch a good opportunity." Alpha said, and caught Bravo's worried glance. "And we will be careful to not maintain line of sight for longer than necessary." he added with a sigh.

* * *

Sora was expecting Hikari's father to try and intimidate him, but surprisingly the man gave him a firm handshake and said welcome home. It threw Sora off, but he allowed it to give him hope that maybe everyone in this household was genuine and nice. He was proven correct when they all sat down for dinner and Hikari's other two sisters introduced themselves with a smile.

"Hi! I'm Nozomi! Welcome to our home!" said the young sister, Nozomi. She was bright and bubbly and playful. The definition of adorable.

"Hey kid, the name's Kodama. I may be the oldest but I'm young at heart." the older sister greeted, giving him a playful wink. She was older and taller and curvier than her middle sister, and wore sweatpants and a loose shirt that left little to the imagination.

"I'm Sora. Hikari found me on the street, and has been nothing but nice to me since. I even got enrolled in school for the first time today!" Sora said, just enjoying the moment. He knew good things never lasted, and he was going to milk this dinner for all the wholesome moments it had.

* * *

Ritsko left the commander's office feeling more frustrated than when she went in. Not only had the commander failed to get her off once again, but she was put in charge of killing Sora after her report of him to the commander. She had revealed that Sora had escaped the planned assassination the commander set up. It was set up because during the engagement with the angel Ritsko had managed to slip to the commander that Sora knew about Lilith, which instantly put him on edge. He immediately sent an agent to kill him. But Sora had escaped and used an A.T. Field no less. As it turned out, the commander had somehow managed to create a backup plan in case the assassinantion failed. He deployed a special team within Nerv to take Sora out covertly if the original plan failed, which it did. How the hell the commander managed all that while under attack by an angel, she would never know.

"For all the frustration that man gives me, he truly is a fearsome person." she said to herself as she entered her office.

She sat down and looked at the files that were just given to her regarding the special assault team she was now in charge of. She really didn't like mixing with the military types, but she understood why Misato wasn't given this. Notwithstanding the fact that Misato would become a liability if Sora knew as much as Gendo feared as she interrogated him, she was also just too soft. She couldn't kill a kid. Ritsko had no such moral hangups. She opened the folder and found pictures of the agents, named Alpha Bravo and Echo respectively. She poured over the files and committed everything to memory. At the end there was a piece of paper with a number to call, which she did. It rang twice, then a gruf accented voice came through the other line.

"E'llo boss. This is Bravo. Reckon it took ya long enough to make contact." Bravo said.

Ritsko knew you had to be direct with military personnel, so she didn't waste any time. "Good, you know who I am. Give me a Sit-Rep." she demanded.

"Oohoo I like this one, mighty feisty! I bet you've got a huge rack-" Bravo was cut off by a stern sounding voice followed by a smacking sound.

"Ma'am, this is Alpha. The situation is stagnant. The mission is not complete yet. We have confirmed Tango's position and are maintaining distance to take advantage of the first opportunity to neutralize." Alpha said.

"Very well Alpha, thank you. Maintain current position and take the Tango out as soon as it is reasonable to do so." she ordered.

"Ma'am yes Ma'am." came the reply, before the line was cut.

Ritsko chuckled, it wasn't often she dealt with an unruly subordinate and it amused her.

Sighing, she lit up a cigarette and logged into her computer. She had work that needed done.

* * *

Moonlight was shining dimly through the windows of the room. Shinji laid in bed, a cassette player playing music to him through plain white headphones. He felt less than dirt. He kept replaying how he treated Sora and even Hikari when he bumped into her. Sora was a random stranger who treated Shinji like a human being worthy of respect. It didn't matter that his respect was misplaced, Shinji still quickly became attached to it. He had been starved for affection and acceptance and when someone finally gives it to him with seemingly no strings attached what does he do? Freak out and hurt his feelings. Shinji wanted to apologize so badly but was scared Sora would reject him.

"I knew that I shouldn't have let myself be friends with him. He's too good for me, and I only know how to shut people out. It's okay though. This way no one gets hurt." Shinji said, as he fell into a restless lumber."

* * *

Sora was laying in the dark himself, laying on the couch of the Horaki households with the comforters Hikari provided from her own bed since they were short.

'Damn she is so kind. But Shinji...I need to make sure he knows it's okay. That I'm not upset.' Sora was thinking to himself.

As sleep slowly claimed him, his consciousness was drawn away from him.

* * *

Sora found himself back on the shores of the destroyed world, with the red sea and the red sky. He wondered if Lilith had pulled him back to the present and why she would do that. He didn't have to wait long for an answer.

"Sora." came Lilith's voice behind him.

Sora turned to find the body of an older looking naked Rei looking back at him. "Lilith. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I brought your mind here, but your body is still in the past. I just wanted to talk and give you some information. Also, it can get rather lonely." she said honestly.

Sora walked up to her and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, it must be so difficult for you to be in this world like this." Lilith held him back and relaxed into his embrace.

A thought occurred to Sora and he wanted to know something. "So, what happened to Asuka and Shinji? Are they still around?"

Lilith sighed sadly before responding. "They are. They have decided to part ways, and are trying to survive in the city. Shinji is doing surprisingly good, having made a niche for himself in the nearby mountain forest area. He was used to being alone and his heart does not falter in the solitude. Asuka is worse off. She is more capable than Shinji, but the constant need for others to validate her worth is stunting her and she is reckless. They keep passing each other, and despite the strong desire to have a proper bond they just go on, like ships in the night…"

"That's so sad. Their hearts must be really closed off." Sora mused.

"It's their strength that compounds the situation. They are broken enough to be scared of connection, but strong and stubborn enough to not just break down like a normal person would. After years of abuse or neglect a regular person would latch on to anyone, even if an abusive relationship was the result. Humans are just that starved for connection. But these two are so strong they don't cave, and hurt enough to not submit to what their hearts are saying. The mind is their worst enemy…" Lilith said sadly.

"I'm sorry. I guess that's the trade off for making the borders between people huh? They can patrol those borders however they wish." Sora said.

"Yes. Yes I know…But that is why we are trying to guide them along. Listen, I saw what happened in Nerv. You did well in keeping a hands off approach, but it seems you revealed too much. They tried to kill you because they believed you knew too much. Ritsko, the doctor heard you say my name. That snowballed into the current situation, where Nerv has sent special agents to kill you."

"I knew I felt someone watching me. That explains it."

"Also, they are aware of your A.T. field. They might try to change tactics should you prove too difficult to kill and offer you a truce. Do not believe them. The commander always lies. Always." she said in a harsh tone.

"Actually I was wondering, what is going on with me?" Sora asked.

"Ah, your powers. Instead of the light you are used to, in this realm there is a different light that takes hold. The light of the soul. It acts as the physical representation of what separates you from others. With it, you can form it into a weapon or a shield. Typically it is impenetrable, only able to be violated by a stronger A.T. field so the average weapon won't so much as graze you." Lilith explained.

"So that's what the orange light is?"

"Yes. Yours is particularly powerful, and I doubt any of the angels would be able to invade your space."

"Well, does this mean I can't do magic? My keyblade was also just made of my A.T. field."

"As I said, the typical light is replaced with the light of your soul. You should be able to do everything you usually can, just using a different power source as fuel."

"That's good to know. Though I guess in this world there isn't much need for magic and the like huh."

"I'm sure you can find uses for them. Now, I think it's time for you to return."

"Wait, before I go, can I ask for a favor?"

"What is it?"

"If for some reason I fail, don't feel too bad. You can't control people or their actions. Doing so will make you no better than Adam."

With that, Sora was drawn back to the past and into his consciousness leaving behind a sobbing Lilith.

* * *

Misato quickly downed her cup of noodles, careful to not get any on her uniform. She had work today, and was mentally preparing herself. She was particularly miffed that she had suddenly been thrown off the case of Sora.

"It doesn't make any sense. I have already seen everything, why black-line me after showing me everything?" she mused to herself.

She heard a door slide open and saw Shinji step out of his room, already dressed for school.

"Shinji good morning!" she greeted with fake but not forced cheer. "Ready for another great day at school?"

Shinji only nodded his head in response, slinging his bookbag over his shoulder and walking to the front door to begin putting his shoes on.

"Hey is everything okay?" Misato asked.

"Yes ma'am. Everything is fine. Will I be needed at Nerv today?" Shinji said formally.

"Uh, no I don't think there's anything scheduled for you Shinji. I will be working late though." she responded, put off by his formality.

"Understood." Shinji responded. " I'm leaving."

The door shut behind him and despite it not being thrown Misato felt it ring in her ears.

* * *

'I know what I must do. I have to save Sora from me.' Shinji thought, as he made his way to school.

Caught up in his thoughts, the walk to school was a blur. Shinji made it into class, and was hit with a fresh wave of nerves when he saw Hikari and Sora standing by her desk chatting.

They both instantly noticed him, and he was about to turn and run when Sora called out to him.

"Shinji! Good Morning!"

Shinji froze, shocked that Sora hadn't cursed at him.

Hikari and Sora walked over to Shinji, and Sora wrapped him in a soft hug. Shinji began to tear up.

"I was so worried about you Shinji. Toji must have really done a number on you." Sora said.

"Shinji. as your class representative I will make sure Toji receives proper punishment. Assaulting a fellow classmate is unacceptable!" Hikari passionately said.

"Don't worry your pretty freckled face Hikari, I took care of Toji." Sora said with an easy smile, patting Hikari's head and causing her to pout adorably.

"You know I don't condone violence Sora." she said, swatting his hand away.

"Hey I'm not saying I used violence! All I'm saying is that I took care of it." Sora defended.

"Honestly, you're such a brute!" Hikari said, getting in Sora's face.

"Am not!" Sora argued pushing his forehead against hers.

"Only a brute would beat another brute into submission!" Hikari said, yelling now in his face.

"You can't prove a damn thing! Show me the carfax!" Sora yelled back, thoroughly enjoying the pointless screaming match.

"The hell's a carfax-!" Hikari was interrupted by Shinji's cry for their attention.

"Stop!"

They both looked at Shinji and waited for him to continue.

"W-why are y-you two just talking like that? W-why aren't y-you yelling at me?!" Shinji asked, crying lightly.

"Shinji, why would we yell at you? You didn't do anything wrong." Sora said to him.

"Yes I did! I hurt you! I ran away, when you were just trying to be nice! A-and I bumped into you!" Shinji said, pointing to Sora and then Hikari.

"Well it's not like it hurt Shinji. You're actually pretty light." Hikari giggled.

"Hey at least say it hurt a little, a man has his pride even for things like this ya know!" Sora told her.

"I hurt you" Shinji broke in. "I-I don't deserve your kindness. At least not without some form of punishment. Scream at me, hit me, hurt me please!" Shinji yelled at them.

"So you wanna be hit huh?" Hikari asked him. She stepped up to him and lightly chopped him on his forehead, sticking her tongue out. " You could have tripped and fell, or really hurt someone. No running in the school, do you understand?" she said sternly.

Shinji could only look at her dumbfounded.

"Well mister!? Your class rep is reprimanding you."

"Y-yes ma'am." Shinji said. He then looked over to Sora.

"You know, you did kind of brush me off yesterday. Do you know what to say when you are mean to a friend?" Sora asked him, staring right into his eyes.

Shinji's heart leapt at the fact Sora still used the word friend to describe their relationship.

"S-s...sorry, Sora. Sorry Hikari." Shinji said meekly.

Sora just beamed a big smile and yoked him up into a hug. "Apology accepted chum!"

The three eased into a welcoming atmosphere and talked until class started. Sora noticed a distinct lack of jock in the classroom.

"Stand! Bow! Sit!"

* * *

Bravo sat casually in the very uncomfortable seat of their stake-out van. They had confirmed Sora was staying at the Horaki residence, and that he went to the same school as one of the famous pilots. Bravo was tasked with maintaining recon while Alpha went to make contact with their boss and Echo went to do whatever she was doing.

"Ach, babysitting a timbered kid is more boring than a washed up bottle of rum. Why do I always git stuck with the boar's ass."

He had kept a bead on Sora his entire stay in class. Using high tech gadgets he was able to see Sora through the walls and hear his conversations with varying degrees of success.

"Kid's a broken record wit his spew of friendship an' loving yurself. What a bunch of reality removed hungshite. Wish I could just blew the entire school and be damn done with it." he grumbled to himself.

He was about to just go to sleep for a bit from the boredom when he noticed the city alarms going off.

"Damn space nancies."

* * *

Shinji's phone began to ring, and he quickly ran outside to a waiting black SUV. Sora waved to him while Hikari wished him good luck. The class was then ushered out of the school and into their designated shelters. Sora stayed close to Hikari, thinking to keep her safe while Shinji handled the angel as he did before.

Sora sat in the shelter and entertained himself by trying to count the hairs on Hikari's head. With his enhanced sight, he could easily single out each strand. She was chatting away with one of her friends, but had noticed him staring at her and tried to not pay attention. Though inside, she was blushing up a storm at his powerful eyes.

"Hey Hikari" Sora said, finally making it impossible for her to ignore her.

"Y-yeah?" she fumbled, internally cursing herself for her exposed weakness.

"May I use the restroom?" he asked, knowing she was flustered by his staring.

"Yes. Be back soon though and don't wander off." she instructed him firmly.

"Yes ma'am~"

* * *

Sora lay heavily against the wall of the bathroom. Holes and blood peppered said wall along with the floor and mirrors over the sinks. The urinals and stalls were destroyed and in pieces and the sinks were broken and leaking water as well. Sora's arms throbbed as the muscles inside them protested the halting of his rampage. He slid down the wall and hugged his knees, jerking as he cried into them.

"W-why am I-I like this. I-I don't want to h-hurt anyone anymore!" he called out to the empty bathroom.

Sora felt himself slipping earlier. He felt the familiar pull of the darkness on his heart and mind. He tried to distract himself with Hikari by counting her hair and remembering the warm dinner he shared with her and her family. But it wasn't enough. He couldn't control the impulse or the pain. The desire to hurt everyone in the shelter was so great it physically hurt him not to. He didn't know why he was like this, and if he was being honest to himself he hasn't felt normal ever since he saved Kairi in her Dive To Heart. But he just didn't understand why. He had said and done things that he would never have done before. It made him sick to think of how much blood was on his hands now, and how nonchalant he was at the time he spilled it.

He needed to get away. Away before he did something he would truly regret. With that in mind, he prepared to sneak out of the shelter, which would be easy enough because the entrances aren't guarded at all. As he began to fumble out of the bathroom a broken shard of glass glistened and caught his attention. He picked it up in a harsh grip, easily cutting himself, and looked into it to find Lilith's face.

"Lilith?" Sora said, forcing the sobbing out of his voice.

"Sora. Hurry, there isn't much time. Shinji is going to fall to this angel." she quickly informed him.

"What? How? Didn't he beat it last time?"

"Last time his bully and the lackey actually were involved. Now due to your interference They won't be anywhere near the fight. He was pushed by his anger at them to finish off the angel, but this time he will break. You need to help him, or everything fails!"

"I'll be right there!"

Sora didn't bother to conceal his speed as he made a mad dash for the surface, reaching it in seconds. He expanded his senses to find Shinji's heart and once he did, locked on and did a long range Flow Motion to him.

Sora appeared right in front of the angel, and it took him off guard. He was Hundreds of feet in the air, and managed to land right on top of a downed Unit-01. The purple giant was struggling to get up as the angel held it down with whips made of pinkish light. Sora took in the angel and saw it was like a giant hooded snake, with its rib cage exposed and a core housed in it.

The angel seemed to lower it's faceless head at Sora and almost looked confused. Sora took the opportunity to reach out to the heart within Unit-01 and see how Shinji was doing.

He spoke out to the mother within.

'HEY! Is Shinji okay? Can you two fight?'

Silence was his answer for a few moments until finally-

'No, my baby boy is unconscious. I can not help him right now because those idiots at Nerv put in additional synaptic dampeners at the skittish UN's request. '

'I'm not sure what any of that means, but basically you can't fight right?'

'Yes child. I have so many questions, but there is only time for one. I will be your ally and be in your debt, so please, will you help my Shinji?!'

'I promise, no harm will come to Shinji.'

* * *

Everyone looking at the battle at Nerv was at a complete and utter loss at the events that had transpired. Shinji had disobeyed commands, and had been pushed back by the angel. Just when all had seemed lost, Sora came in and caught the angel's attention, halting it's advance to finish off Shinji. Then, light.

* * *

Sora reached out to the different but still warm light that resided in him. He idly pondered that last time he reached for his internal light there was none, and he was glad there was something this time. He expanded his A.T. field and it shoved the angel back a few hundred feet. It was massive, easily twice as big as tall the angel and a hundred feet thick. The angel looked surprised, and nervously shifted back and forth in place. Sora decided he would practice invading the angel's soul, just as he did to the previous one.

Sora condensed his thick field into an impossibly dense lance he could hold in his hand. It was about twice as tall as him, but he handled it with ease. He took a few hopping steps forward and threw the spear of light with all the strength he could muster. It instantly tore through the angel's own A.T. field and lodged itself in the core.

Sora used the lance as a conduit for his own soul, and rushed into the angel's core.

* * *

As soon as Sora entered the core he had to dodge as thousands of lasers came right at him. He instantly summoned his keyblade and popped off hundreds of offensive spells to thin out the attackers. In the last core he tried to enter it was just a piece, this time he entered a complete core and the number of souls within it reflected that. There were billions of souls flying aggressively all around him. Only the ones nearest to him could fire their attacks, as the ones behind them did not want to hit their allies. Still, Sora had a rough time avoiding thousands of endless lasers while thinning out the herd.

After a few hours, Sora finally managed to beat down the final soul. The world around him went from light blue to a pitch black and all the souls disappeared. Before him a core the size of a small car appeared, and he wasted no time running his hand into it and drawing it into himself.

Sora felt billions of lives flash before his eyes, as each soul was torn apart into pure energy and absorbed by him. It hurt more than anything he had ever felt bar nothing. But he endured until the last soul was his.

* * *

As he came back to the real world only a few seconds had passed, and the angel before him dissolved into a fine mist before being sucked into him through his chest. He felt the new well of power in his heart, and could only smirk as he knew he was one step closer to defeating Kingdom Hearts and keeping his friends safe.

He felt like a god, and wondered how he would feel when he finished forcing all the other angels into submission. He looked directly into Unit-01's giant yellow eyes and spoke to those he knew were watching at Nerv.

"Leave me alone, or I will destroy you. I can beat the angel's on my own, the world doesn't need you. You've been warned." Then he said something that only made sense to a few of those listening. "Oh and Yui, I kept my promise, you owe me."

He then Flow Motioned far away and back into the shelter but to those present it looked as if he just vanished in a faint blue light.

* * *

Gendo Ikari was not in a good mood. Not only was the United Nation and Seele breathing down his neck demanding an explanation for the events surrounding Nerv's sortie with the most recent angel, but a little snot nosed brat told his wife that she owed him.

The bastard! Just who the hell was this Sora kid, where did he even come from and why was he acting so familiar with his wife!

"Commander!"

Gendo looked calmly over his folded hands and across his desk at the fake blonde that was interrupting his thoughts. "You don't need to yell Doctor Akagi. I can hear you just fine."

'Is that why you didn't respond to me calling you seven times?' she bitterly thought, but didn't voice her retort. "Indeed. Sir the situation is dire. Notwithstanding the likelihood that Sora may very well know everything, on a practical level the world was shown that Nerv isn't needed to combat the angels. Apparently a teenager without a giant multi-trillion dollar robot would do just fine!" she told him in a slight panic.

Gendo impassively looked through her as he thought about what actions he could take. The two committees breathing down his neck would settle down if he could show them that despite being shown there are alternatives, Nerv was still their best option by far. As for Sora, he needed leverage on him. He had no illusions that Sora was the most powerful entity alive right now. But he still seemed very much human based on his interactions with his son, which meant he had emotions. Emotions Gendo could manipulate.

"Do not worry about Sora. I have a plan. Your covert team has been keeping tabs on him, and has observed a very close relationship with the Horaki household correct?" he intoned.

"Yes sir. But what...wait. Sir I-I don't know if we can afford to make an enemy out of the most powerful entity on the planet." Ritsko said nervously, already knowing what the commander was going to do.

He just grinned as if he had already won. "A lion without teeth or claws is harmless."

* * *

Shinji showed up to school the next day still unsure of the events from the day before. He was certain he was losing to the angel before he lost consciousness. But he still woke up to a white hospital ceiling. Everyone was tight lipped, even Misato. Especially Misato. She just held a blank stare when he asked her once she came home last night and said nothing.

Still, he was glad to be alive for once. For once, he looked forward to school. Because for once, he had friends that cared for him without any ulterior motives. So it came as an absolute shock when as he stepped into the classroom, two large men and a tough looking woman all in military get-up shoved him aside and walked up to his two best friends.

The large asian man spoke first. "Miss Horaki. My name is agent Alpha, and I have been sent to retrieve you on behalf of your father, Mr. Horaki."

"M-my father? What has happened to my father?" Hikari said, clearly intimidated with the situation.

The other large man stepped up and spoke next. " 'ello las. My name is Bravo and there have been recent threats to yer father's life as of late from a fanatic religious cult. They think the angels are messengers from the almighty and hate Nerv and all that work for it for attacking the angels." he said, sneaking glances at Sora. Sora didn't break eye contact with the man at all.

"Where is my father? Is he safe?" she asked, even as they grabbed her and gently ushered her along.

"Where will she be staying?" Sora asked, surprising the class even more.

"Kid if we told you where she was how would she be safe?" Echo said, a cocky grin on her face. She really wanted to blast this kid in the face and be done with this roundabout method.

Sora had the hair on the back of his neck stand up and every muscle in his body coiled tightly. His hand began to tighten, gripping nothing but air in half-closed fists.

"I swear, if any harm comes to her I will rain down the foulest atrocities imaginable upon you and all of your kind." Sora growled out.

In hindsight, Sora would admit if Shinji hadn't placed a calming hand on his shoulder he would have torn the three goons apart right there and then.

"It's okay Sora. People at Nerv get threats all the time. I-I'm sure they will keep her safe." Shinji then looked at them with what could barely pass as a glare. "Right?"

"Of course. This isn't our first rodeo!" Echo said.

Sora did not feel his unease lessen at all as they walked away with her, and the assistant class representative called out for them to get to their seats.

"Stand. Bow. Sit."

* * *

Shinji sat with dread as Rei said goodbye to him and stepped into her entry plug. He thought of how sad it was to say that, and that after all of this passes he would tell Rei not to say goodbye anymore.

Sora was walking down the street a mile or so away, waiting for his chance to get into the angel's core. He would let Shinji handle it unless it proved too much, so he was just biding his time. As he turned the corner of the block he was on, he saw a large black SUV pulling up to him. Curious and cautious, he let the doors of the vehicle open to reveal Gendo Ikari.

"Sora. I think we have much to discuss. Why don't you come with me?" Gendo told him.

"Aren't you Shinji's old man? What could a bastard like you want with me?" Sora said being purposely disrespectful.

Sora knew that Gendo was out for his head, so to come out in the open like this to him meant one of two things. Either Gendo was going to extend an olive branch like Lilith warned him, or he had leverage. 'Gods I hope this isn't about to be the one I think it is.'

"Like I said, we have a lot to talk about. Or does the life of this girl mean nothing to you?"

Gendo smirked as he pulled out a laptop from the still open vehicle and opened it, turning it towards Sora.

Sora felt his breath hitched at what was being shown to him. There, naked and bound in chains was Hikari. Her body was littered with bruises and dried blood could be seen all over her body.

"Now I know you are powerful, but there is no way you could reach her in time before one of my agents puts a bullet in her head." Gendo continued.

As if to prove his point, the camera panned out a bit and revealed three agents all with handguns trained on Hikari's body at various parts. One at her head, one at her heart, and one at her waist.

Sora stood still as fury and malice rolled over his body. He could kill Gendo. He could destroy Nerv, and take care of all the angels. He could do it all. But he knew deep in his heart that he wouldn't be able to reach Hikari in time to save her from the bullet.

Sora never had to restrain himself so much in his life. He could destroy this entire planet in an instant, but couldn't save this one girl named Light. 'How fucking poetic…'

"I can see you are having some issues coming to terms with the current situation, but I'll take the fact that you haven't tore me in half as your agreement to my invitation. So come on, you're wasting my time child." Gendo said oozing condescending confidence.

Sora wordlessly obeyed and entered the car.

While this exchange was going on, Shinji was in position with a giant sniper and lining up a shot at the new angel. It was a giant floating blue diamond that decided it didn't like the laws of physics. It would change shape at will and shoot extremely powerful beams of energy at anything with extreme precision. Getting the go from all of his sensors, he took the shot. Only to get it met and deflected by the angels own quick retaliatory shot. Shinji cursed, and knew he had to wait at least 17 seconds before he could even start to line up the second shot. Unfortunately, much like his caretaker from his youth this angel was ready to go for round two much quicker than him.

Shinji screamed in terror but the pain never came. He opened his eyes to see Unit-00, Rei's evangelion, standing in the way of the enemy beam holding a giant shield. But he knew that barrier would only hold for 9 seconds.

Sora saw it all happen from the SUV window, and saw that the shield was not going to hold. He turned to Gendo and tried to keep the murder from his voice.

"Let me out there! I can save them!"

Gendo didn't even look at him when he responded. "Rei will be able to take the blast."

"You are leaving too much to chance. Yui would have gone out herself if she was here!"

The unexpected use of his wife's name was like an ice cold splash of water to Gendo's face, as he thought about what was being said. After a second's pause, he acquitted in a low growl.

"Go."


	21. Light Fades

Rei felt as if her entire body was melting. When her shield dissolved under the angels' all powerful beam of energy, she had no choice but to put herself in harm's way to protect Shinji long enough for him to fire off a second shot. She was about to lose consciousness when she finally heard Ritsko yell to fire over the comms.

Expecting relief from the pain, it was with widening eyes that Rei saw the shot from Shinji warp around the angel's beam, much like the first shot had, as both attacks were veered off course and slammed into the mountain side. She knew she had nothing left, and that Shinji would need even longer to recharge a shot if it was even possible. She closed her eyes, resigning herself to her fate.

Shinji was screaming in terror and rage as his second shot missed, and knew that there would be no third shot before the angel got to him. Despite Misato telling him to stay put and wait for the third shot, he couldn't bring himself to watch as Rei was turned to ash. So as the angel quickly charged up it's third shot, Shinji yanked the sniper he was using out of the massive stand it was on, and threw Rei over his shoulder with his other arm. He jumped away just as the enemy's attack ran through the mountain they were on.

The angel sent blast after blast at Shinji, who always just barely dodged. Everyone was screaming in his ears, and carrying Rei and the sniper was hard to do while maintaining balance. Eventually, he tripped and fell. He could feel the angel's attack coming, and all he could do was grab onto Rei and say he was sorry as he braced for death.

As the beam approached the downed pilot, it suddenly smashed against a massive orange wall as it splinted into fractals of deflected plasma. The beam was then enclosed upon by the orange wall and directed back at the giant blue angel. It struck right through it's core, and it let out a horrendous screech as it's crystalline body expanded manically.

Shinji and Rei just lost consciousness as they saw Sora through their Eva's eyes, floating in the air with a feral look on his face.

* * *

Leon was walking to Yuffie's last known location. He had been trying to contact her for the last fifth-teen minutes, but there had been no response. He figured she was just doing her own thing, but it wasn't like her to not at least give him a heads up before doing "Yuffie things" as she had put it before. So he was walking to her scheduled patrol beat to make sure it wasn't anything serious.

As he walked, a tall tan skinned woman of questionable clothing caught his attention. He had never seen her before, and despite having no exotic features she clearly stood out. Ever the leader, he knew information was key.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before" Leon said with a casual wave.

"I don't believe you have. I just got here." Jisma responded, casually sizing him up.

Leon instantly felt her searching and analytical gaze upon him, and pressed on. " What brings you here to our Radiant Garden?"

"Well, I was sent here on a mission, but upon arrival found that I quite like having some leg space after so long. So, I'm just, ya know, hanging around." she said, smirking.

"What was your mission?" Leon demanded. He couldn't help his tone as it went from friendly to accusatory.

"I was sent to kill a certain someone. Maybe you know him. Sora?"

"Fuck."

That was all Leon could get out before Jisma dashed in and got low on his left side, bringing up a jaw shattering uppercut that laid him out.

Jisma stood over Leon's softly breathing unconscious body with a look of disgust directed at him.

"Tch, not even one second." she said as she walked on.

* * *

Sora allowed the souls to flow into him, and the angel turned into him and was absorbed into his heart, just like the last angel. He eyed the two giant bio-machines laying on the ground under him, and then to the waiting black SUV a few miles to the side. He sighed heavily as he flow-motioned directly in front of the vehicle, and sat on the hood. Gendo came out of the back and looked at him with murder in his eyes, clearly still pissed at Sora mentioning Yui. Sora shrugged and casually laid back on the car.

"There. You're welcome." Sora said.

"The situation was under control." Gendo said evenly.

"Nothing about that was under control. You're a delusional old man." Sora retorted.

"Listen child, you will address me as Commander." Gendo said gravelly.

"I could tear your heart out of your chest, devour your soul, and make it so that even if Instrumentality happened as you planned, you would not be able to separate yourself from me and enter Guf. Obviously that would mean you'd never be reunited with Yui. So if being called an old man is worth risking all of that, roll the dice, old man." Sora said to him.

Gendo was fuming in anger, incensed that Sora knew so much. "Just who the hell are you dammit. There is no way you could know all of that." Gendo somehow managed to say evenly still.

Sora was about to respond when suddenly his anger flared up. He jumped off the SUV and slammed his hand onto the hood, digging his fingers into the metal. He lifted and hurled the big vehicle, throwing it off to the side with a shout of rage.

"I'm sick of this game! You and your Seele are everything wrong with this world! People deserve to make their own choices and I will never let you have your way!" Sora said, stalking towards him.

Gendo quickly pulled out his phone and pressed the nine button. "One more step and I'll have them do even worse to her." he informed Sora.

Sora looked at the phone and paled. "What did you do."

"You mean what did you do? I'd say you did about six inches, if it's the one with his head shaved clean." Gendo said, smirking.

"No. No not again. I can't, she can't, you can't! You can't! Tell them to stop right now!" Sora said as his entire body coiled and tightened.

"IF you behave, she will survive. Maybe she won't get pregnant if you get on your knees and beg." Gendo said, thrilled at having so much control over this higher being.

Sora felt his insides twist and turn and flashes of what happened to Yuffie played in his mind. He had failed to protect her. And now he would fail to protect Hikari, his light.

He failed to protect his light again.

"No."

"What was that? Do you really want her to have her rapist's child? Your pride is even greater than my own. A pity." Gendo said coolly.

Something deep within Sora snapped. There was nothing he could do anymore, as he felt despair so great that the last and only time he felt anything like it was when Kairi was killed right before his eyes. He saw darkness. All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end.

* * *

Lilith looked at the past through her mind's eye with horror. Gendo had directly ordered an innocent middle schooler to be assaulted. She felt disgust at herself for making such a deplorable creature. The Rei in her compounded the feeling and it made her sick to her stomach. The Yui in her was screaming bloody murder at her former husband. Truly, Lilith regretted ever making her creation. But then she saw Sora, and her blood ran cold. There was palpable darkness pouring from his mouth and eyes. She was witness to Sora running black claws through Gendo, separating his upper body from it's lower body. She saw the ground erode as tidal waves of darkness consumed the city, then the country, and then the world. The darkness spread out, devouring the moon and even the surrounding planets, eventually snuffing out the sun. It went on and on in endless hunger reducing solar systems to nothing in an endless sea of darkness.

She quickly grabbed Sora from the darkness, and brought him back to the present. She held him close and cried with him, as he was sobbing. They sat like that for some time before Sora finally managed to ask a question.

"D-did I k-kill e-everyone?"

"It's okay my child, it's okay." she cooed into his ear, making him rest his head on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry Lilith. I couldn't save anyone." he said, drained of emotion.

"It is alright. The past I sent you to already happened. Whether you succeed or fail it has already happened. Everyone was already destroyed, your loss of control changed nothing. I'm sorry for making you go through that. I should have just accepted that what's done is done." Lilith said to him.

"I couldn't save Shinji, or Rei. I didn't even meet Asuka. And Hikari. I-" Sora said, his voice catching.

"Hikari was a light in a dark world. I never noticed how kind she really was. I suppose she had to be, to be Asuka's best friend." Lilith mused.

"I-I want Hikari. With her I felt normal, I felt warm." Sora pleaded.

"Oh my dear, I am so sorry. Even if you managed to reach into Guf and pull Hikari out now...she isn't your Hikari. She isn't the same one. She wouldn't even know you." Lilith explained sadly.

"My light is gone forever. Forever!" Sora said, sorrow coating his every word.

Lilith could only hold Sora as he wept.

* * *

Wonder looked on at Sora from a universe away, wondering what he would do now. She gave him the clues he needed, and he even found the perfect world to cultivate the skill he needs to fight against her Mother. Clearly he had failed, and was now crying into a primordial's plentiful bosom.

"Well that was anticlimactic." Wonder mumbled to herself.

As she sat floating in the Void of space, an arm materialized around her shoulder and startled her.

"Whoa What!?"

"Now now daughter, don't be so jumpy" came the smooth voice of Kingdom Hearts.

"You! What are you doing here?" Wonder asked, acutely nervous of Kingdom Hearts' intentions.

"Me! Since when did I need to explain anything? This entire Omni-Verse is mine. I can be anywhere I want. A better question is, why are you here oh wayward daughter of mine?" she asked, trailing her eyes to where Wonder had just been looking.

Wonder could feel time and space clench as KH went rigid and a strained smile crawled along her face.

"It's Sora, and that Slut." she bit out.

"Lilith isn't a slut! You and dad were long separated before-" Wonder tried to defend Lilith but was interrupted by a back hand that sent her spiraling into a nearby galaxy.

Kingdom Hearts took a step forward within the void and reality shifted around her. Her foot landed on the cool sand of Post Impact Tokyo 3, with Lilith holding a sobbing Sora a few feet away from her. Lilith felt the invasion of her space, and wracked her brain trying to figure out who could have just appeared like that, as Adam was dead. Then realization set in and she gripped Sora even tighter.

"Oh, there's just nothing for it, is there." Lilith said aloud in resignation.

Sora looked up, wondering where the comforting words from a moment ago went. He saw Lilith still looking down at him, with a sad smile.

"There are two people still alive in this world. Please, help them. I know it is even more hopeless now, but don't let my children die out. There is hope in love." Lilith said to him before standing up and facing Kingdom Hearts.

"That was his favorite phrase. He swore up and down that love was the answer to everything. But in the end it solved nothing, did it?" KH spoke.

Sore stood and saw KH, and marveled at her beauty. To him she looked like the universe wrapping itself in all of it's wondrous sights. Her hair was space itself dazzled by multicolored planets and her shape was decidedly feminine.

"W-who are you?" he asked her.

"I am the one you've been looking for all of your life. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I am creation and the accumulation of all matter. I am the brightest day and the darkest night. I am, Egosum." KH stated theatrically.

"Kingdom Hearts, I see you haven't changed a bit." Lilith spat out, uncharacteristically terse.

Sora's eye hyper focused on KH now, realizing that this is the person he was supposed to hunt down, the one responsible for his woes. There was a primal darkness in him that seared his senses and told him to act. This was Kingdom Hearts.

Sora lunged at KH and instantly assailed her with a barrage of swings from his Ultima Keyblade. With each swing, he missed, and simply summoned another keyblade to follow up. After five seconds of relentless attacks Sora had amassed one hundred keyblades that were all hellbent on ripping through her.

Lilith looked on in awe, the sheer power Sora displayed enough to give her pause. But that awe was stripped away and replaced with fear as she saw KH wave her hand in front of her, casually putting up a shield that blocked and stopped every single keyblade in its tracks. KH grinned.

"Boy you are three eternities too early to try and face up against me. If I wanted to I could untangle you from the weave of existence I have woven together. Unfortunately, you have something of mine that I can only retrieve if you surrender it willingly. So I have to beat you to a bloody pulp and break your spirit. Then, once you return what is mine and only then, will I grant you the sweet release of death." she whispered, somehow right next to Sora's ear.

Noticing just as she finished talking, Sora spun violently in a hurricane of keyblades trying to hit her. Much to his shock, he actually did hit her. At least he thought so until she started walking towards him with various keyblades embedded throughout her body as if they weren't even there.

"Hmm, you remind me of my first husband, Yahwah. So passionate, so rough. A bit of a sociopath that one. You even smell like him as well. I wonder why that is. Let's take a look!" KH said to him, her breath brushing against his.

She placed her hand over his chest, and reached out to his heart before he could react. She quickly reached his Dive to Heart, stopping momentarily to admire the sheer blackness of it. She stood in the middle of the shadowed glass and began to sink, down into the very structure. She sank and sank until she finally placed her feet on solid ground.

"Ah, the Inner Sanctum of the soul. It has been quite some time since I was in one of these. Definitely some of my best handiwork."

She walked slowly along a floor made of crystallized light. Fractals of rainbows gleamed out in every direction, and in the middle of it all sat Sora on a throne of gold. He seemed to be asleep, and Kingdom Hearts walked right up to him and sat on his lap. She lifted up his face and kissed his slumbering lips.

Slowly Sora began to stir, and upon noticing her on him went to throw her off. He got up and shoved her, but she held fast onto him by wrapping her legs around him. She began grinding her crotch against his and exploring his chest with her hands greedily. Sora began to speak.

"No! I don't want you! Get off of me! Kairi will be hurt! I don't want to see her cry again!" he shouted, tearing up.

"Oh my sweet child, she will never know. This is the deepest part of your soul, a section reserved only for me. Not even a god can violate this space. It represents your truest heart, unaffected by any surface interaction. This is a part of you that can never be corrupted unless you were born corrupted, and can never be pure unless you were born pure." she explained.

"Then why are you here? What do you want!? Get out of here!" he told her.

"I designed it so not even I can interfere with this part of your soul. It was meant to be a way to preserve your personality forever. Even if you passed through the Final Death, this part of your soul would never truly disappear and reflect who you truly are." she continued even as she reached in his pants and licked her luscious void lips.

"So then what! Hey stop that I don't want to give that to you! That is for Kairi! Stop!" he screamed at her in panic.

"I may not be able to directly affect who you are, my pure little ball of sunshine, but I can still interact with you. And I am going to violate you. I am going to keep violating you until you crack and give me what belongs to me!" she roared, using her body weight to swing and lay him out on the floor. Her clothes vanished with just a thought and she tore the pure white robes he was wearing with mad fever.

He couldn't help his body's natural reaction to the most beautiful sight in all of existence. But his heart still rebelled, and cracked with each bounce she made on his manhood. The entire time she had a wicked smile on her face and Sora let his tears fall freely, only able to think of Kairi and how he had betrayed her now in the deepest parts of his soul.

"I don't get what all the fuss about you is about! You're pretty average by my standards!" she yelled at him with a twisted grin as she rammed herself onto his manhood. "Though I guess it's unfair to compare a mortal to actual gods!"

Sora cried freely as she violated him. He felt powerless, and he was. She continued her rape until every bit of him was spent, and every hole on both of them was explored. Nothing was sacred.

"Well, I think that'll do for now. You've reached the emotional point of numbness, so any more would just be wasted effort on my part. You wanna know the best part of all of this?" she asked Sora's unresponsive body.

She looked right into his dissociated eyes. "There isn't an inherent connection between your soul and your conscious mind. I will return to the physical plain, and you won't even know this happened. There will be a deep rooted visceral trauma in your heart of hearts that will plague you day and night and you won't even know why and how."

With that she faded away, leaving the Inner Sanctum of Sora's soul.

Sora gradually got the strength to pick himself off the floor. He stumbled back to his golden throne, and sat down. As he slowly closed his eyes, he wouldn't notice so much as feel the changes occurring around him. The white pure light that was ever present started to dim, and adopted a transparent grey hue. The throne of gold he sat upon started to chip and rust at only a few spots. His body would sink a little deeper into his throne as well, slightly more heavy and weighed down by some unseen force. To any onlooker what was happening would have been clear. Darkness was introduced in Sora's Inner Sanctum.

* * *

Kingdom Hearts removed her hand from Sora's chest and he fell over, losing consciousness. Lilith rushed over and caught him as he fell. Instantly, she felt the deep seated vague violation done to Sora. She whipped her head to Kingdom Hearts, rage blazing in her red fiery eyes.

"How dare you! How dare you enter there! You deflier! Charlatan!" Lilith raged.

"Silence!" As soon as Kingdom Hearts spoke the air stilled and Lilith found no sound would come from her throat.

"I am the One above All. I decide what is and what is not. I will not be berated by a common whore. Tell me, does Yahweh still call you over for booty calls? The miserable slob." she said.

"We both know what you did to him. Such is your nature. If you can't have it, nobody can." Lilith strained out.

"Hmph. And with that, **all's right with the world**."

As Kingdom Hearts said that, she fizzled out of view.

Lilith turned her attention back to Sora, who was softly thrashing and writhing in her grasp. Tears fell from her eyes as she empathically felt Sora's pain.

"Oh dearest one. How you suffer so. It is better in the waking world, where at least you cannot remember. Awaken."

She kissed him on the forehead and as she withdrew Sora slowly opened his eyes.

"D-did we get her?" he asked.

"No Sora. She is still beyond us. She has departed." she told him.

"Damn it. I had the chance right in front of me and I choked." Sora sighed.

"It is alright. There was nothing we could have done. Unless you can kill god, you have no hope of defeating her…" Lilith said softly.

"Well, I came for a purpose. After having my ass handed to me I'm even more motivated to get the skills I need to beat her! I have to help Shinji and Asuka. It's what...It is what Hikari would have wanted." Sora responded.

Lilith smiled in a way only a goddess can. "Thank you. I will be busy keeping this world from being torn apart as the gravitational disparity increases. It will require most of my attention, so you will be alone for most of this task, and there is no telling what will happen. Oddly enough, because of Guf making everyone understand each other, there is almost no darkness in this world. That doesn't mean there is any light however."

"I understand. I will save the wayward children Lilith. You can count on me." Sora assured her, getting up and dusting himself off.

"I look forward to your success." Lilith said to him. With that, she faded from view and Sora was alone.

"Well, first things first. I have to find them.

* * *

Jisma was having the time of her life. She was moving at full speed with what felt like Jupiter's gravity, a planet she trained frequently in. She was currently facing off against a little seemingly blind girl in a green tank top and dark green short tights. Jisma originally didn't pay her much mind, but unprovoked the girl had attacked with great boulders of earth. Jisma expected to easily punch through them, which she did. What she didn't expect was for the boulders to be ninety percent pure iron inside. This was enough for the girl to catch her full attention, and then the girl started manipulation gravity to be stronger on her as she moved. It kept increasing to a point where Jisma actually has actively use ten percent of one percent of her power just to move unimpeded. Anything less and she would be slowed down. And she was enjoying every minute of it.

Toph was glad to be able to put her training to use so soon. She was walking around town and taking a break when she felt something off about a woman down the street from her. As they got closer, Toph focused on the woman. She was shocked when her new and improved vibration vision picked up on how absolutely dense this woman's muscles were. Back on her home world, Toph often trained her seismic sight by sending it as far into the earth as she could. It was how she came to the realization that the earth was a rough sphere, and got an idea of how dense the earth's core was. The woman before her has muscles infinitely denser than that earth's core, so much so that Toph could not get an accurate detailed look at her, only a rough outline. Immediate Toph's instincts told her to attack, so she did.

Toph was in full swing, using her gravity manipulation, metal bending, and earth bending all in tandem. It looked as if she was making some headway, but the tan skinned woman just continued her approach. Toph considered using her more volatile, experimental time and black hole magic that Merlin and her discovered she was inherently attuned to, but did not want to risk destroying the world because she could not control it. So against her will she decided on the diplomatic approach.

"Brown tits, who are you huh? You walk way too funny to be from around here!" Toph yelled at her.

Surprised, Jisma responded. "How do you know my tits are brown?"

"I'm asking the questions here brown tits! What business do you have 'round these parts?" Toph demanded, adopting a wide stance.

"Hey! I thought we were fighting! I don't want to talk, especially after you just swung at me." Jisma said.

"Okay fair enough I may have jumped the gun with that, but can you blame me?! You are so ripped my ass clenches just thinking about it!" Toph said back.

Jisma laughed. "Your ass clenches? That's hilarious! Haha, yeah I guess I am pretty shredded. But how do you know that?" she pressed, trying again for the answer.

Toph sighed and answered her curiosity. "I can't see with my eyes, but I can sense things. I can sense the amount of heat being absorbed by your skin, and compare it to my own. I know my skin is fairly light. Since your skin is eating the suns warmth like a fat kid in a candy store, I know you must be darker."

Jisma marveled at her explanation. "Wow that is really cool! You must have trained exceptionally hard to get to where you're at."

"You too brown tits!" Toph shot back.

"My name is Jisma. I have come to find someone."

"Maybe I can help, and this has just been one big misunderstanding. The name's Toph Beifong." Toph said, internally hoping she didn't have to fight this beast.

"Sure that'd be great! I'm looking for a lad named Sora. Do you know him?" Jisma asked.

"S-Sora? Why are you looking for someone named Sora?" Toph tried to pry.

"I have to kill him." she answered simply.

"Fuck." Toph sighed.

Jisma dashed at Toph, but Toph was able to respond thanks to her enhanced sensing ability. She ducked and weaved around Jisma, using her small size to her advantage. Since Jisma was still under her gravity magic, Toph was able to pinpoint each muscle as it twitched before it moved. This was the only thing keeping her from being taken out.

Suddenly Jisma stopped her attack. "Huh. You are better than a woman named Yuffie that I fought earlier today." she acknowledged.

Toph stiffened. "Yuffie! What did you do with her!" she yelled at Jisma.

"Well I asked a question, she took exception to it. And well you know how that song and dance goes. I wanted her to live and get stronger but I left her in a pretty bad way. Most likely for her, the music has stopped."

Toph roared with rage as she slammed her hands into the ground. Having proven iron was no issue for her, Toph went to summon all the tungsten she could pull form deep in the earth and hurled spikes at Jisma. Jisma decided to simply dodge them all. As she was dodging, curiosity got the better of her and she allowed one of them to hit her to see if it would pierce her skin, thinking they were just made out of iron like the boulders from before.

The tungsten pike rammed into Jisma's chest, instantly raising her up in a skewer. Toph took the opportunity to force barbs to explode out of the pike and turned the pike rapidly to act as a blender inside of Jisma. Jisma was ripped apart, and left a bloody mess of gore on the floor.

Toph felt the plop of blood and flesh and with a stony face walked forward to confirm Jisma was dead. As she approached, she heard bubbling from the mass of flesh that was Jisma's remains. Suddenly, the blob of flesh sprout up and quickly began to reform and heal back into Jisma's body. After a few seconds Jisma stood as good as new, smirking at Toph, who stood shocked at what she was feeling.

"Oh wow! I hadn't been killed in who knows how long!" Jisma exclaimed excitedly. "Who knew this world would house such strong metals. To pierce my skin is no small feat at all." Even as she spoke she walked up to Toph.

Toph began her onslaught once more, but this time nothing pierced Jisma or slowed her down.

"I am currently using one hundred percent of one percent of my power. Congratulations! I'm at one percent. As a reward, I will let you do one more attack before I respond. Anything at all, no matter how long you need to charge it up. Give me something even stronger!" Jisma said in ecstatic excitement.

Toph could smell the dampness between Jisma's legs and it made her cringe. But a thought occurred to her.

"So, as long as I can promise it will be much more powerful than anything I've thrown at you, you are willing to give me a minute to prep it?" she asked.

"Yes! Please give me your best shot!"

"Okay. But you'll have to wait a while."

"Alright, how long?"

"A few months at least."

"W- A few months! Why would I wait that long!"

"Hey, didn't you just give your word that you'd wait? Do you want a good beat down or not?"

"Well...you are the strongest person I've encountered on this planet so far. What kind of attack are we talking about here?" Jisma asks her.

"Have you ever tried making your way out of a black hole?" Toph answers.

"A Black Hole? A freaking black hole?" Jisma deadpans at her.

"What, scared of a little gravity? I guess it's unreasonable to think you're that strong. Sorry for the confusion." Toph says with a shrug and a smug grin.

Jisma looks at Toph with a smirk. "See, I know you're playing me. But I'm gonna let it happen. Are you sure you can create a black hole?"

In demonstration, Toph clasps her hands together. Sweat starts pouring down her face as she concentrates on her palms. Slowly, a small black orb begins to push her palms apart from within her grasp. After a few minutes, an impossibly dense orb of pure gravity is floating in her right hand.

"This is all I can muster right now. It's only about twenty thousand times the gravity of this world. But if you give me a few weeks, I can make it stronger and big enough to fit you inside of it properly. What do you say? Up to the challenge brown tits?" Toph said, hoping against hope she would fall for her con.

"I've never challenged a black hole before. So be it, we shall postpone our fight until such a time that you are able to do this. I shall see you then." she said as she turned to leave.

"Wait! You aren't gonna just go around killing people are you?" Toph asked anxiously.

"It is never my intention to kill unless it is my mission. I am a firm believer in living, getting stronger, and fighting another day. That said, if my opponent pushes themselves too far I will not disrespect them by holding back." Jisma answered.

"Well, why don't you stick around me? That way you don't miss the moment I can do the thing. Plus, I am close friends with Sora. I'm sure you'll run into him if you hang around me. He is infinitely more powerful than I am right now. We can be best buds!" Toph offered.

Jisma looked thoughtful as she considered Toph's request. " Well, only if I get to help you train." she said.

"You want to help me train? Why?" Toph asked.

"Because it might be fun! It's not everyday you met a moral with gravity manipulation abilities. There is potential there." Jisma answered.

"Well, if it'll keep you from laying people out willy nilly…" Toph mumbled. "But, you have to show me where Yuffie was last. She's a friend, and Sora will be beside himself if you did any permanent harm."

With that Jisma turned and waved for Toph to follow. Toph did everything she could to try to keep the cold sweat from her brow and to still her racing heart beat. She managed to somehow convince this freak of nature to relax and follow her around. She was happy she saved innocents from potential death, but she had no clue how this was all going to play out. She could only hope she could kill Jisma before Sora returned.


End file.
